Stranger With My Face
by Sushi Champ
Summary: Billy and Tommy may be brothers, but that doesn't mean they love each other, or even like each other. Because when it comes down to it, they don't even know each other. And that's something that only time and effort can change. Oneshots about everyone's favorite magical speedy twins. Chap 5: Tommy promised to always save Billy if he got captured. But Billy gets captured a lot.
1. Chapter 1

Summary: Billy and Tommy may be brothers, but that doesn't mean they love each other, or even like each other. Because when it comes down to it, they don't even know each other. And that's something that only time and effort can change.

This will be a collection of oneshots about everyone's favorite magical speedy twins, Wiccan and Speed.

Romanipen

The semi-weekly shopping trips that the Young Avengers made to the supermarket to keep their hideout stocked with snacks were usually uneventful, but everyone went on them anyway. One reason was it was the only way for each member to be reasonably sure that the foods they really wanted would be present when they wanted them. But the main reason was that it was a bonding kind of thing. Something that they could do where they could hang out and not have to worry about the stress of peoples' lives being in their hands, or having other people trying to kill them.

On one such excursion, Billy got a little more insight into his brother's old life, before the Young Avengers. Before juvie too. It brought about a string of small revelations, actually, things that Billy would never have guessed about Tommy, but at the end of it, Billy didn't feel like he knew his brother any better. If anything, he only had more questions once it was over.

It started with a teenage boy Billy didn't know catching his eye, when Billy and Teddy split off from the majority of their team to peruse the news stand, or more specifically, the comic books. The teen was a pretty good looking guy, not that Billy was checking him out or anything. He just noticed, the same way anyone would notice whether or not someone was attractive. And if said person was checking them out. Which Billy was pretty sure the other guy was, and promptly regretted making eye contact when the other teen raised an eyebrow, then grinned widely and strode over.

Billy quickly averted his eyes and moved closer to Teddy, hoping that the other teen would realize he was with Teddy and go away, but when was he ever that lucky?

"Tonino, you crazy cat. Where have ya been?" the teen asked, and Billy suddenly found an arm slung around his shoulders.

"Wh-what?"

"Good move with the hair, by the way," said the teen, seeming oblivious to Billy's confusion. "I always said the old way was too conspicuous. But look at you, all spiffed up, but without a spec of swag? What's with that?"

"Sorry? But what?" Billy asked. Then he got enough presence of mind to duck away from the other teen's arm that was still around his shoulders.

"Who are you?" asked Teddy. Understandably, he didn't look pleased at the idea of some stranger going and acting overly familiar with his boyfriend.

The strange teen tilted his fedora further back on his head so that he could look up at Teddy without tilting his head back. "I'm his cousin."

"What?" asked Billy. "No you're not."

The teen made a motion toward his heart. "I'm hurt, cuz. What's with the denyin'?"

"I've never seen you before in my life," Billy told him.

The boy raised an eyebrow again then waited a second as if expecting something. "Okay, you're really sending me mixed messages, Tonino."

"What? No, I'm not –"

The boy lowered his voice slightly, but not to the point where Teddy wouldn't be able to hear him. "Is this a con? If it is a con, you should've signaled me, man, when I signaled you? Method acting's all fine and good, unless you've actually convinced yourself you're really _gadje_ and given yourself amnesia, cuz."

"He's with me," Teddy said, putting a possessive hand on Billy's shoulder, a warning note in his voice.

"You're working a con together?"

"What?" Teddy and Billy asked at the same time.

"Huh?" the weird teen asked in turn.

Now it seemed, that everyone was confused.

"Tonino . . . cuz . . . You're confusing me, man. What gives?"

"I think you're mistaking me for someone else," said Billy. "My name's not –"

"Rajko? Cuz? That you?"

The teen, Rajko apparently, looked over as Tommy appeared from behind the magazine rack. "Whoa. Doubletake. Tonino?"

Tommy responded in some language that wasn't English, a sly smile spreading across his face. It was mirrored by Rajko's expression as the other boy moved forward to meet him and give him a bro fist.

"What just happened?" Teddy asked.

"He thought Billy was me," Tommy explained.

"And who is he?" asked Cassie. She, Vision, Eli, and Kate had just arrived, with Eli pushing their shopping cart.

"We're cousins," Tommy and Rajko said at the same time. Then Tommy added, "Guys, this is Rajko. Rajko, my . . . friends. Kate, Eli . . . Cassie, Teddy, and Billy."

Rajko looked at them sharply then looked sideways at Tommy. When he spoke, it was in that strange language again.

"What're they saying?" Billy asked the Vision softly.

"I'm afraid I do not know," Vision told him.

"But aren't you programmed to speak every language?" asked Kate.

"Every documented language. There remain a number of undocumented languages for which I am not programmed, such as indigenous tribal languages, or, as I believe is now the case, Romani dialects."

"Romani? Tommy's a gypsy?" Cassie asked loudly enough for the two teens who'd been jabbering at each other in another language to hear.

Tommy gave them a dark look, but Billy couldn't tell what he was really thinking. "I'm half Romani," he said at last.

Then his cousin said something else in Romani, and Tommy turned his attention back to him.

"That . . . That I did not know," said Billy. He was surprised, but he was also upset. It took him a few seconds to figure out what about. It didn't bother him that his brother was half gypsy. He wouldn't have cared if Tommy had been a full blooded gypsy either. What was annoying him was the fact that Tommy was chatting so easily with this Rajko guy, like they were old friends. Like they were family. Like he'd never chatted with Billy or any of the others on their team. "I didn't know he had any cousins either," he muttered.

"There is a distinct possibility that they share no blood ties," Vision informed him.

"Why?" asked Billy, lowering his voice. "You think because the Scarlet Witch is . . ?"

"No. Not because of that reason, but because the Romani have been known to refer to all other Romani as their cousins even if no blood relation exists," answered Vision.

That didn't make Billy feel any better. In fact, it made him feel worse for reasons that he couldn't explain. It wasn't that he begrudged Tommy the right to have friends or family. And he wasn't jealous of Rajko for being one or the other, or possibly both to Tommy. Well, maybe he was a little. Or more than a little. But that wasn't entirely it. It was more the fact that Tommy wouldn't acknowledge the possibility that he and Billy could possibly be family, yet here he was claiming someone who he might know for sure wasn't really a relative was his cousin.

And he was being kind of rude too, speaking in Romani in front of the rest of the team, knowing that none of them could understand what they were saying.

"Sorry to interrupt, Tommy, but we kind of need to get going," said Billy.

Tommy gave him a sideways glare but other than that didn't give any indication he'd heard, and continued talking with Rajko.

"Tommy?" Billy asked again. "Tommy!"

"Damn it Billy, give me a minute. I haven't seen Rajko in over a year."

"Actually, I've got someplace to be," said Rajko. "But when I saw your doppelganger there and thought it was you, I had to stop and say hey, ya know?"

Tommy responded in Romani. He said something that made Rajko laugh, then the other teen held open his arms, and Billy couldn't help but feel a bitter stab of envy as Tommy stepped willingly into his "cousin's" arms and hugged the other teen. And when Rajko took the fedora off his own head and set it on top of Tommy's and tilted it at a stupid angle before walking away amidst a lot of obnoxious clinking from all the stupid jewelry he was wearing. Billy was glad to see his ugly face leave.

"That looked . . . friendly," commented Teddy.

Tommy looked at him suspiciously. "What's that supposed to mean?"

"Why does it have to mean anything? I was just making an observation," said Teddy.

"Is he really your cousin?" Billy wanted to know.

Tommy scowled. "I know what you're getting at, and no, Rajko and I are not together you pervs."

"That's not what I was asking," said Billy. "I just wanted to know if he's really your cousin."

Tommy gave him a dirty look. "Why would I say he was my cousin if he wasn't?"

"Because apparently that's what gypsies do," said Eli.

"Really Eli? Stereotypes?"

"We have kind of noticed that you haven't answered the question," said Eli. "You're just dancing around it."

"Better than tripping around it. Or tripping on MHG," said Tommy.

"So, you're not really real cousins with him, are you?" observed Cassie.

Tommy gave them all another dirty look. "Technically, no, we are not blood relatives. As far as _Romanipen _goes, yes, we are. Because we're _tsera_. Because he's the closest thing to _prala_ I ever expected to have. And because he's never treated me like _gadje_ even though the useless bastard who calls himself my father is _gadje_. Any other questions?"

"Yeah," said Eli. "What did you just say?"

Tommy threw his hands up in the air, looking disgusted.

"Well, I think it's cool that you're a gypsy," said Cassie. "And that you can speak the language fluently like that. I mean, I can barely speak English properly. I bombed my English test today. But you can speak gypsy-ish as well as English? You can't say that's not awesome."

A small smile curled Tommy's lips. "I was actually speaking Romani."

"Well, it's a beautiful language. I love the way it sounds," said Cassie. "Maybe you could help Vision pick it up. He's not programmed for it."

"I am aware of a number of words from that language, even if the syntax, conjugation, and a large amount of vocabulary are not present in my databases," said Vision, sounding almost insulted. "For example, _Romanipen_ is Romani philosophy and spirit. _Tsera_: family. _Prala_: brother. And _gadje_: non-Romani."

Billy turned his face away, feeling sick with envy. _Prala_ meant brother? He didn't remember the exact sentence that Tommy had used that word in, but he could guess what the context had been. Tommy considered Rajko his brother. Even though they weren't related by blood. Not that Billy really had room to talk. A DNA test wouldn't exactly be conclusive proof that he and Tommy were brothers, but that didn't mean anything. They _were_ brothers. Billy knew they were. They were twins. Two lost souls that had been born side by side once, but separated when they'd been reincarnated, or when they'd been set free. Billy wasn't exactly sure of the details, but he was sure that it was true. Tommy was his brother. But Tommy refused to believe it. And instead he acknowledged some weird looking gypsy teen as his brother. Some weird looking gypsy teen that didn't look anything like him.

"So, that Raichu guy –"

"Rajko," Tommy corrected Cassie.

"He was pretty cute. Is he seeing anyone?"

Tommy laughed and shook his head. "Sorry Cassie, but Rajko's married."

"What? But he's only like eighteen!"

Tommy shrugged. "Seventeen, actually . . . next month."

Cassie gaped. "But . . ."

"It's the Romani way," Tommy explained. "And don't we have somewhere we need to go?"

"What?"

Tommy motioned toward Billy. "He said we needed to get going. Like I was holding you guys up or something."

"We should go check out and get this stuff back to base," said Kate. "We've all got stuff to do tonight."

"I don't," muttered Tommy. "I should have gone with Rajko."

"You do too," Billy said quickly.

"What?"

"Have something to do," said Billy. "You should come to dinner with me. At my house."

Tommy looked at him suspiciously. "What's the catch?"

"What? There's no catch. Why do you think there has to be a catch?" Billy asked.

"There's always a catch," said Tommy.

"No there's not," argued Billy. "I'm your family too, you know."

Tommy still looked suspicious.

"Fine, you know what? Just forget it," said Billy. "You want to come instead, Teddy?"

Teddy looked back and forth between Billy and Tommy. "You know I always like coming over, Billy, but I think Tommy should really get dibs this time."

"But Tommy doesn't want to," said Billy sullenly.

"I never said that," said Tommy.

"You didn't not say that."

"I was too busy trying to figure out why you were suddenly up and inviting me to your house," said Tommy.

"Because you're my brother."

"Assuming I believe that, then I've been your brother for a couple weeks. You've never invited me over before. So you can see why I'm a little suspicious that you suddenly are now," Tommy said.

"No, I really can't see why. So do you want to come or not?" demanded Billy.

"Are you going to tell me why you really want me there or not?"

"I already told you!"

"And I don't believe you!"

"Then don't come!" Billy said angrily. "I'm taking back the invitation."

"Fine."

"Fine!"

Tommy glared at them all. "You guys don't seem to need me right now. So if no one has any objections, I'm just going to go catch up with my cousin? Any objections? No? Good. Bye."

There was a blur and then Tommy was gone. His fedora, which had come off as he sped away, drifting to the ground, was the only sign he'd ever been there at all.

"See? That reckless impulsiveness is exactly why I didn't want him on the team," said Eli.

Suddenly Tommy was back, snatching his fedora off the ground. "Yeah. I know. You didn't want me on the team. You only wanted to use my powers to bust your _real_ teammate out of Super-Skrull prison. And you wonder why I think there's always a catch."

He put the fedora back on his head, held it there with one hand, gave them a mirthless smile, then promptly disappeared in another speed blur.

"Tommy, wait!" Billy shouted and tried to grab him, but Tommy was gone before his hand even moved.

"That was mean, Eli," said Cassie.

Eli had the grace to look at least a little bit ashamed.

"He's . . . he'll come back, right?" asked Billy.

Teddy put an arm around his shoulders and pulled him close. "Yeah. I think he will," said Teddy in the voice he used when he wasn't all that confident in what he was saying.

"I believe so as well," said Vision. "His comment earlier indicated that he does believe you to be his brother, and I do not believe hearing Eli say that he does not want him on the team for a second time will deter him from claiming the place that he _did_ earn on this team, or his place beside his brother."

"What?" asked Billy. "What comment? When did he say he thought we are brothers?"

"When he said, in regards to Rajko, 'Because he's the closest thing to _prala_ I ever expected to have.' _Expected_ being the key word in that sentence. Indicating that something has changed since. That something being you, Billy," said Vision.

Billy felt a little better. Not a whole lot better, because, well, what Tommy had said was kind of true. They had only busted him out of juvie because they'd wanted to use him. Things had obviously changed for Billy since finding out that Tommy was his long lost twin brother, but if Billy hadn't believed that . . . he couldn't guarantee that he wouldn't want to turn Tommy back over to the authorities like Eli wanted to, even though he did owe the other teen an amazing, unpayable debt for saving his boyfriend. It made it seem like what Tommy said was justified. That there always was, and always would be a catch whenever anyone tried to do anything for him, invited him anywhere, or acted nice to him. And Billy didn't want that to be true. Especially since it seemed like Tommy was starting to believe, and that had to be the first step toward them becoming real brothers again.

"Are you sure this whole him being half gypsy thing doesn't throw a wrench into your theories about him being your brother?" asked Eli.

"Why would it?" asked Billy.

"Actually," said Vision, "I believe that it actually supports Billy's theory."

"How so?" asked Teddy.

"According to my records, the Scarlet Witch was the daughter of Magneto, who is Jewish, and his wife Magda, a gypsy who he met during the second World War," said Vision. "The displacement of your souls seems to have a certain symmetry to it."

"Me being reborn into a Jewish family, and Tommy being reborn as a gypsy," said Billy, feeling another piece of the metaphorical puzzle fall into place. "Add that to the list of impossible coincidences."

"Um . . ." Cassie looked troubled about something.

"What is it, Cassie?" Vision asked.

"Well, Tommy said his cousin Rajko is sixteen, right?"

"Right," Vision said.

"And Tommy's sixteen too, right?"

"Yeah," said Billy.

"So . . . So do you think that Tommy's already married too?"

* * *

(In my headcannon, Tommy's part gypsy. It would make sense, since Wanda and Pietro were of Jewish and Romani descent, and Billy ended up being born into a Jewish family. It stands to reason that Tommy would get the Romani blood.)


	2. Chapter 2

Summary: Tommy is mistaken for Billy by some of Billy's old enemies. This unfortunate mistake leads to blood and violence.

Mistaken Identity

"Well, well, if it isn't Billy Kaplan."

Tommy hadn't been paying attention until he heard his brother's name. He looked up with mild interest at the three guys who formed a semi-circle around him, and immediately registered them as a threat.

"What did you do to your hair, freak? Go a little overboard with the bleach?"

A polite person might try to diffuse the situation, or get stock of it. Assert that this was a case of mistaken identity, and that they were not actually Billy Kaplan.

Too bad Tommy wasn't a nice person. Nor did he appreciate the fact that these guys thought it was okay to act like this toward Billy. Because it most definitely wasn't, not in Tommy's book. And not necessarily because Tommy believed Billy's farfetched theory about them being reincarnated twins. Not that Tommy didn't believe that. Tommy was still undecided on that issue, and it hurt his head to think too much about it, so he generally tried not to, because even if they were brothers, what was really the point? No, that's not why Tommy was pissed that these thugs wanted to gang up on Billy. He would have (probably) been just as pissed if they'd tried ganging up on any of the Young Avengers. Because he owed those guys a debt for busting him out of the torture camp masquerading as juvie. Even though he knew they'd only gotten him out because they wanted to use his powers to bust one of their guys out of Super Skrull prison, and that actually cleared whatever debt he owed them, he'd still choose them over juvie any day of the week. And so it was not okay for random idiot teens off the street to try pushing any of them around.

So Tommy responded appropriately and punched their leader in the face. The thug's nose made the most unique splattering sound as it smashed in on itself and promptly turned into a fountain.

The thug started screaming. And moaning. And trying to stem the flow of blood with his hands. His cronies stared dumbly, no idea what they should do without their leader to pick out and insult people for them to laugh at.

"I just did you a favor, buddy," said Tommy. "Your nose was god ugly. Now you have an excuse to see a plastic surgeon."

"Get him!" dribbled the leader, spraying blood everywhere.

Apparently that was what was needed to get the lackies to spring into action.

Tommy laughed as the idiots lumbered toward him as though they were in slow motion, and ducked under the first punch that the faster thug threw at him. He came up fast and butted his head against the fast thug's chin, snapping the guy's head back. There was another sound that really made Tommy wish he was in a comic book, so that he could have seen giant letters spelling out a really cool sound effect like SQUELCH! drawn big and in all caps in the background. That thug started screaming as blood and gobs of spit literally started pouring from his mouth, and Tommy guessed he'd bitten his tongue. Quite possibly bitten it in half. The loser.

The last thug drew up short when it sunk into his thick skull that Tommy had just made both of his friends bleed (a lot) without even taking a step. And it seemed the moron was smart enough to calculate his odds for being able to take Tommy down at somewhere between nonexistent and in negative numbers, because he decided to turn tail and run.

Tommy didn't use his super speed to catch up with the guy. Really, he didn't. Because that would have been wrong. Using his powers against a meatheaded teenage bully who thought that it was okay to gang up on a skinny kid like Billy, three against one, and give him a pounding? Taking advantage of someone like that. Using a huge advantage to cause someone else pain. Nope, not doing. That was a bad thing. So Tommy absolutely did not use his powers to catch up to the punk, and crash into his back, and tackle him from behind with enough force to make the punk skid a good seven yards on the pavement, which skinned the punk's knees, and palms, and elbows, and chin, and the rest of his face.

Oh, who am I kidding. Of course Tommy used his powers. He wasn't going to let someone get away with trying to beat up him or his brother, and he didn't spend months being fashioned into a living weapon by scientists for nothing.

It did cross Tommy's mind that the path of least resistance would be to vaporize all three of these punks, right there, right then. It would have been so easy, and he wouldn't have lost any sleep over it. But he had agreed to follow the Young Avengers rules and not kill anyone.

"Listen very closely, you pathetic little prick," Tommy told the thug who he was currently pinning to the ground. "And you tell this to your friends when they stop screaming and moaning about their broken noses and jaws. Are you listening?"

"Y-Yes," ground out the thug.

"You will never try this crap with me again. You will never even come near me again. Because if you do, I am going to break your neck. And I mean it. No lies. No bluffs. Just your vertebrae cracking underneath my hands Got it?"

"Y-yes!"

That sounded heartfelt, but Tommy wasn't sure the guy really got the message.

"I could do it now, you know," he said, placing a hand on either side of the guy's head and turning it to the side just far enough to be painful. The thug gasped and tried to fight him, but Tommy didn't give an inch. "It would be very easy. And then you would be very dead. Or at least paralyzed from the neck down for the rest of your life. Maybe I _should_ do it now. I kind of have the feeling that this is going to happen again, if not with you, then with some other morons. Maybe I should just make an example of you."

"No! Please, God, no! Don't!"

"It actually makes more sense to do it this way," said Tommy. "Can you think of a better way to warn everyone else off?"

"I'll tell them! I'll tell them all! Everyone at school! I'll make sure no one ever bothers you again!"

Tommy sighed. "If only I could believe you."

"You can! I swear to God! I promise! Just don't do it! Please, don't!"

The fool thug was crying now. And it seemed that he'd lost control of his bladder because there was a puddle of liquid growing on the ground beneath him. Tommy got off him disgusted before any of it could get on his clothes or shoes.

"You do that, then," said Tommy. "You tell all those lowlifes to stay away from me. Because if any of them come after me, I'm coming after you."

He only half paid attention to the babbled cry that was that stupid peon's response. He was pretty sure he'd gotten through to coward.

Tommy doubted that any of those bastards would ever mess with him again. And as an added bonus, they'd leave Billy alone as well.

* * *

Billy felt like he was living in the Twilight Zone. For the past week school had been, well, good. Yeah, he'd still bombed his Algebra test, and he'd gotten in trouble yesterday for leaving his Earth Science homework at the Young Avengers' HQ (he'd told his teacher he'd left it at home) but other than that, everything was going too well to be real. He hadn't had a problem with bullies since last week, which would have been a weird blessing normally, but for the way it was happening. It was almost like the bullies were . . . well, to put it mildly, stark raving terrified of him. He'd accidentally crashed into Philipe Moore when they'd both turned a corner too fast, and Billy had been expecting to be checked into the lockers. He hadn't been expecting Philipe to turn ghost white and back away, stammering an apology, then turn tail and run like a rabbit. Normally, Billy might have thought that Philipe had mistaken him for someone else. Half the other teen's face was covered in bandages, and the other half revealed undressed road rash and a patchwork of bruises, like he'd taken a nasty spill, so that might cause impaired vision that would make him mistake Billy for someone else. Except it wasn't just Philipe who'd been acting like that. All his usual bullies had been regarding him with similar fear all week. And Billy knew that they couldn't all be mistaking him for someone else. That simply wasn't possible.

At least that was the last thought to run through Billy's mind before he opened the door to HQ, and saw Tommy sitting innocently on the couch. Too innocently. That would have sent warning bells off in Billy's mind even if he hadn't just been wondering if the bullies at school could have been mistaking him for someone who might actually terrify them.

"Did you do something?" Billy asked immediately.

Tommy raised his eyebrows. "What?"

"Did you do something, Tommy?"

"You're going to have to be more specific," said Tommy.

"Did you do something to some of the kids at my school?" Billy asked.

"I don't even know what school you go to, let alone who goes there with you," said Tommy. "How could I do anything to them and why would I want to?"

Billy paused before answering. He didn't exactly like admitting that he was a bully magnet at school. And now that he thought about it, he wasn't sure what he was accusing Tommy of. Impersonating him to get the bullies to back off? Or just randomly terrorizing them?

And now that he thought about if even more, why would Tommy do something like that in the first place? It wasn't like they were friends, or like Tommy really believed they were brothers. Well, maybe he did a little, but even if he was starting to be swayed, it wasn't like his attitude toward Billy was changing that much. Tommy was a study in indifference when it came to most of his teammates, including Cassie, Vision, Teddy, and Billy. Kate was the only one that he'd given any clear indication of liking, and Eli was his favorite person to rub the wrong way to get reactions from.

Tommy had never given any indication that he'd go out of his way to do something for Billy, even if he did believe they were related.

"Sorry. Nevermind," said Billy.

Tommy watched him for a few moments with suspicious eyes, like he didn't believe he was getting let off the hook this easily, even if he didn't know what he was on the hook for. Then he shrugged. "You going to tell me what you think I did?"

"It doesn't matter," said Billy.

"You came and accused me of doing I don't know what. You at least owe me an explanation for what that is," said Tommy.

"There are just some people at school I usually have problems with. Now they're suddenly all leaving me alone."

"So you were accusing me of helping you?" Tommy looked genuinely annoyed. "Note to self: no good deed goes unpunished on this team."

"I said I was sorry," Billy told him.

"Yeah, but it's not like you meant it." Tommy stood and started walking away. Billy followed him.

"I didn't mean it like that, Tommy."

"Sure you didn't." Tommy strode into the kitchen and started going through cabinets, looking for something. Billy wasn't sure what.

"I just wanted to know if you'd stepped in and done something, Tommy. I wasn't trying to accuse you."

"So you say. I know better."

"Tommy . . ."

"Look, just forget about it. In case you haven't noticed, I already know what all you guys think of me, and I don't really care." Tommy gave him a dirty look.

"You're wrong, Tommy. We don't . . . we don't dislike you or anything," said Billy. "Please. I didn't mean –"

Tommy slammed a cabinet shut after pulling out a bag of chocolate covered gummy bears. "Save it, Kaplan. I don't need you guys to like me. I don't even really want you guys to like me. If I cared what you thought of me, it would just make it harder to leave when you inevitably decide that you don't want me around anymore."

"We're not going to –"

"Yeah, you are," snapped Tommy. "Eli's already made it clear he doesn't want me around. You think I'm the kind of person who'd go and . . . what did you think I did? Beat up your classmates? Threaten to kill them? While impersonating you? Whatever you think I did, it all boils down to the same thing. You think I'm dangerous and you really don't want me around either."

"Yes I do!"

"Doesn't look that way from where I'm standing," said Tommy. "And I know I'm not a vital member of your team or anything. I know that my job security here is pretty non-existant. I've been staying in line so you guys don't have a reason to get rid of me any sooner than you would have otherwise."

"We're not going to get rid of you, Tommy," said Billy.

Tommy rolled his eyes. "Sure you're not."

Billy grabbed his arm. "We're not. You're part of our team now, Tommy. And you're my brother. We're not getting rid of you."

Tommy let go of the gummy bears bag to pry Billy's fingers off his arm. "So you say."

"I'm serious, Tommy. We want you on the team. I want you on the team. I'm not just going to –"

"Look, spare me the 'we're a team and a family of friends' speech, Kaplan," snapped Tommy. "What you don't seem to get is that _I don't care._ I don't need you guys to like me. I don't even really care about your team. The only reason I'm on it, is because it's better than the alternative, that being I go back to juvie, back to being cut up, and experimented on, and back to being turned into a living weapon. I don't care about you guys beyond the fact that you offer some measure of protection against that. Which is why I am obeying your rules, and not killing anyone, or hurting anyone more than I have to in order to stop them from terrorizing pedestrians, and why I'm not stepping out of line. And as long as you keep offering me that protection, I'll do whatever you guys ask. When you inevitably decide to get rid of me, and you will, then I'm going to run, and I'm going to find someone else who'll keep me from having to go back there. And I'm going to do whatever it is they ask of me in return for their protection. I don't care if they have rules like yours, where I have to play nice, or if they want me to kill people for them, or rob banks, or what have you. Because I will do anything not to have to go back there. And the bottom line is, that I don't care who's keeping me out, as long as they are keeping me out. In short, I don't care about you."

Billy was suddenly finding it hard to draw breath, and his eyes were burning. He moved to grab Tommy's arm again, but Tommy sped backwards, out of his range.

"Tommy, I –"

"Drop it, Kaplan."

Billy found it unnerving staring into a face so like his own, but so full of emotions that had never crossed his face.

"We're not getting rid of you Tommy," Billy promised him, because suddenly that seemed like the most important thing in the world to say. "Never."

Tommy waved one arm in a dismissive gesture, clearly not believing him.

"I mean it. I swear, we're never – I'm never going to let them take you back there."

This time Tommy just watched him with narrowed, distrusting eyes. But the fact that he wasn't discounting everything Billy said was a little bit heartening.

"I don't care what happens. I promise you that as long as I'm alive, I won't let you go back," vowed Billy. "I swear on my powers, and my soul that I won't let them get their hands on you again. I'll protect you. I promise."

Tommy's expression wavered. The doubt seemed to start to melt away, and maybe it was just Billy's imagination, but Tommy's eyes seemed to go glassy, like they had filled with tears. And just when Billy was sure he'd gotten through to his brother, and reached out to put a hand on his shoulder, the front door of their headquarters slammed shut, making them both jump and ruining the moment.

Tommy quickly retreated a few steps away from Billy, looking wary again. "Uh huh. So you say. For now, at least."

"Tommy –"

"I appreciate the sentiment, Wiccan, but I know it's only because you still have use for me now."

"That's not –" Billy stopped talking, realizing that he was alone in the kitchen, and that Tommy had sped out. "Damn it."

Why was he so bad at being a brother to Tommy? It wasn't like he didn't already have experience. He had two younger brothers after all. Granted, having a distrusting soul twin who'd been through all that Tommy had been through, and had absolutely no reason to trust anyone, was something new. And that, Billy realized was what the problem was. Not that this was something new. That Tommy had been through too much, and had had the trust and faith, and pretty much all hope tortured out of him by the people at juvie. And Billy had no idea how to fix that. But he realized that he wanted to fix it. He wanted to so bad.

He wanted to look at Tommy without seeing a tortured reflection of himself in his brother's face.

* * *

There will be happier chapters later, I promise. It's just that right now Billy and Tommy are still strangers to each other. Tommy doesn't know he can trust Billy, and Billy doesn't know how to get through to Tommy and show him he can be trusted. They've got a long ways to go before they'll feel like real brothers, or even like friends, but they'll get there one day.


	3. Chapter 3

Summary: Their personalities, their beliefs, their souls are like mirror images of each other, but one's a little broken.

Character Bashing Disclaimer: Any perceived character bashing was not done out of malice on my part. I was trying to write from Tommy's and Billy's limited POVs. And I know that I did write Tommy's opinions of Eli and Cassie as pretty venomous ones, but I think he's allowed to be as venomous as he wants toward people who think he should be locked back up in juvie and experimented on again. And both Cassie and Eli have made comments in the comics about how they shouldn't have broken him out of juvie. Comments I do not and will never agree with, and considering that in this case juvie can't really be separated from whatever program Tommy was put through to try to turn him into a living weapon, I cannot believe Tommy would agree with their comments either, and have written him to reflect that. I don't mean for this to be a personal attack against anyone's favorite Young Avengers.

* * *

Reflections

Tommy is selfish.

(That's not necessarily a bad thing.)

It's a common trait in people who have had to struggle to survive. Everything was about living through the day and everyone was a potential obstacle to that in juvie. Even now that he's out, there's a part of Tommy that doesn't recognize that, or comprehend that things are any different on the outside than they were in there. And in some ways they're not, especially in the life that he's chosen. Or the life that's chosen him, perhaps it would be more accurate to say.

There are still plenty of people trying to kill him. The only difference is that their goal is to do it all in one go, and not just murder him by inches like his old doctors. There are still people who want to tear him down. Like the Avengers who want to disband the Young Avengers (the only people willing to stand up for Tommy, to keep him from going back). Like Eli (who wants to get rid of Tommy and send him back)

(Tommy would rather _die_ than go back.)

And he'll do whatever he has to now to stay free. Everything is about staying free just one more day, and everyone is a potential obstacle to that. Even his teammates.

(Yeah, I'm looking at you, Eli. You're always so pissed about how your grandfather was experimented on, and imprisoned, and tortured, treated like something less than human and locked away, you fucking hypocrite.)

(Yeah, I'm looking at you, Cassie. You think I didn't hear about what you said to Vision, about how breaking me out of that torture chamber was a mistake made by stupid teens on a power trip, you filthy traitor?)

(Yeah, I'm looking at you, Billy. I know how close you were to leaving me in there and skipping down to the next name on the list, looking for someone more powerful. I know damn well that you only busted me out for my powers, and I have no delusions that you, any of you, are any different than my jailers, you damn phony.)

So Tommy puts himself and his own priority first. (Because it's not like anyone else is going to.)

* * *

Billy is selfless.

(And that's not necessarily a good thing.)

He puts himself in harm's way more than he should, leaps before he looks, doesn't think about the consequences his actions could have on him, or the effects they could have on the people who love him if something actually happened to him.

But that may be because nothing bad really ever has happened, and he's kind of naïve. (Yeah, being in the Cube and the Negative Zone sucked, but he never doubted that there would be a rescue.)

He's always been surrounded by people who he knew loved him, people who would do anything for him, and did he really have the right to do any less for them? Even if it meant getting hurt himself, even if it meant getting yelled at or grounded?

The bottom line for Billy is that he believes people are worth saving. (Worth fighting for. Worth getting hurt, and maybe even dying for.) Because he's seen the best of what the world has to offer, and it's bright enough to banish the glimpses of darkness he has gotten.

(Yeah, I'm looking at you, Teddy. I'm always looking at you because all my life I've prayed for someone like you, and sometimes I still can't believe I really found you.)

(Yeah, I'm looking at you, Kate. I can't look at you without remembering the girl in the cathedral who saved our bacon, who stood up to defend herself and us when everyone else was cowering in fear, and who did it wearing four inch heels.)

(Yeah, I'm looking at you, Tommy. Because I truly believe you're my brother, and I want you to believe like I do, that life can be wonderful.)

So Billy puts others first. (But trusts that those others will be there to catch him if he falls.)

* * *

Billy remembers feeling alone. A sense that something was missing. Some_one _was missing. A sickening jealousy when he looked at his younger brothers and somewhere deep inside, a part of him knew that's what he was supposed to have. That was what wasn't there.

He kind of knew that he was searching for someone. Someone who was supposed to be by his side, but wasn't. Someone who would complete him. At first he thought Teddy was that person. And Teddy kind of was. He complimented Billy perfectly, and having him by his side just felt so right and perfect, but that feeling still didn't go away. There was still someone else who was supposed to be with him but wasn't.

* * *

Tommy remembers days with no hope, all alone in endless darkness, crying out so many times for a hero. "I don't care who! I don't care how! Someone just get me out of here!"

Everything else, every dark thought, or feeling of loneliness was just icing on the cake. Another flavor of despair, but despair all the same, and by the end of it, he couldn't even sort them out anymore. He was waiting for someone. He was looking for someone. That was true enough. But when it was all said and done, he wasn't waiting for anyone in particular. He would have taken _anyone_.

* * *

The first time Billy saw Tommy something just clicked. _Yes, this is it. This is who I've been looking for. I've finally found him._

He just knew.

He just knew that Tommy was connected to him somehow, even if he didn't know how. And when the Super-Skrull offered him an explanation, and way to lay claim to Tommy being _his_, he latched onto it with both hands and refused to let it go. Even if it meant accepting the stigmata of being related to the Scarlet Witch. Even if it meant acknowledging a genocidal terrorist like Magneto as a relative. Because Billy knew that he and Tommy belonged together, and he was prepared to move heaven and hell to make sure they stayed together.

* * *

The first time Tommy saw Billy he didn't realize how much they looked alike. It had been too long since he'd seen his own reflection, and the angles and lines of his face had changed since then. He didn't recognize Billy as his long lost brother.

If he felt something at the sight of him, something good, he took it as elation at finally being freed.

* * *

Tommy wanted to stay with the Young Avengers after he got out. His reasons were practical. The Young Avengers had been the ones to free him. As long as he did what they wanted, he could stay free. They, more than anyone else, were the most likely ones to back him up if someone tried to put him back.

He wasn't deluded enough to think that they'd freed him in the first place out of the goodness of their hearts. They'd only gotten him out because they'd needed him to take Teddy back from the Super-Skrull. They were using each other, but Tommy didn't see anything wrong with that. Both side benefitted. Tommy got to go through a day without getting stuck with needles, cut up like a lab rat, or having questionable chemicals flushed through his veins, or scalpels thrust into his skin. They got their half-Skrull, half-Kree all important team member back. Everyone was happy. Everyone won.

And as long as Tommy stayed useful and didn't do anything that the team was blatantly opposed to, they said he could stay with them. And since they were the only ones in the world who might stand between him and the people who wanted to imprison him, he was all for staying with them.

Family and friendship were stupid ideals for stupid children, none of that factored into his decision. It was all clear cut, all rational, all calculated.

And yeah, maybe he was a little curious about the stranger who everyone said had the same face as him, but that wasn't why he stayed.

A mutually beneficial relationship gave him a slight amount of security, and protection against being sent back.

Family . . . family only ever let him down.

* * *

Billy wanted Tommy to stay with the Young Avengers after he got out. His reasons were personal, but so freaking what?

Tommy was his brother. His twin. Literally, the other half of his soul.

And he'd been through so much. Too much. More than anyone should ever have to, let alone a teenage boy.

Any hints from their team that returning Tommy to juvie might be in everyone's best interest were met with a promise: that Wiccan would make sure said hinter ended up in the cell next to Tommy's, and would be left behind when he went back to get Tommy out again.

He would have done it too. Because he didn't see how anyone could think sending Tommy back to _that_ was right by any definition of the word. And if anyone had a different opinion, they could have that different opinion while strapped down to the same lab table they wanted Tommy back on.

"He restrained himself and didn't kill the people who'd been torturing him. He helped us when we needed help, and because of him, we got Teddy back. He's a good person, and he does not deserve to be sent back there. He's on the team, end of story."

Even without the family connection, Tommy had earned his place on the team, but Billy couldn't pretend that wasn't a factor why he wanted Tommy around. Because Tommy was the missing piece from his life, the person he'd been searching for as long as he could remember, and because Tommy was his family.

And if there was one thing that Billy was sure of, it was that family were the people who were supposed to be there for you no matter what. He knew that Tommy didn't believe that. That much was obvious just from looking into his eyes. It was like the ability to love and trust anyone had been beaten out of him, and no one had given him a reason to think otherwise. But Billy wanted to give him that reason. He wanted it so bad that it hurt.

And trust had to start somewhere. So Billy decided that it would start with him.

He would prove to Tommy that he was his brother. And that he'd never let him down.


	4. Chapter 4

"In ancient times, dancing was a form of prayer. The prayer became a smile, and that smile lit the path to the future." – Quote from the manga: Fairy Tail

Just Dance!

It was one of those impromptu festivals. The kind that sprung up unannounced, and no one really knew who was in charge of it, but anyone fortunate enough to catch wind of it and make it there enjoyed it nonetheless.

It was Cassie who heard about it and invited everyone else. "It looks like fun," she said, and she was right. It had the atmosphere of a fair or carnival. There were a few rides set up in a vacant lot. Just a ferris wheel and a kiddie roller coaster, so nothing fancy. But there were vendors selling so many wonderful smelling foods, and masks, and knick knacks with no really practical uses, and balloons, face painting stalls. And music. Live music, not recorded music. Played by acoustic instruments.

"This seems kind of cool," Eli admitted as the team made their way through the crowds.

"Yeah," Kate agreed. "The best part? No snooty hags from my school would ever deign to come here, so I don't have to worry about running into any of them."

"The music's good," contributed Tommy.

"It's okay," said Eli.

"It's better than okay," argued Tommy.

"No, it's just okay. In order for music to be good it has to be something you can dance to," Eli argued back.

"Are you dumb? This is completely danceable music."

"Are you deaf? The rhythm is ridiculous. Anyone trying to step in time to it would look like they were having an epileptic seizure while on a caffeine rush," said Eli.

"No they wouldn't," insisted Tommy.

"Yeah they would," said Eli. "Back me up, guys."

"The tempo does seem pretty out of control," Cassie said.

"And Eli knows what he's talking about where dancing's concerned," added Teddy.

"Dude," Tommy looked disgusted, "can you really not fight your own fights? Man up and stop calling in the peanut gallery."

"I'm just polling the audience," said Eli. "And since the majority of the team, or in other words, everyone but you, agrees with me, I'm clearly right. Right guys?"

He looked right at Billy when he asked that. Billy would have preferred to stay out of that debate because while he agreed with Eli, he didn't want to openly disagree with Tommy. But with everyone looking at him, he did mutter, "It is really fast. I don't think dancing to it would be possible."

Billy didn't miss the cool look Tommy gave him. He'd expected a stung expression, maybe a little bit of hurt in his gaze, or else naked annoyance. But instead, Tommy just looked really apathetic. Like he'd had absolutely no expectations for Billy being on his side, and had just been proved right.

Billy immediately wished he'd just kept his mouth shut, or argued for Tommy's side, even if he didn't agree with him in this case. It was a pointless argument anyway. The kind of thing that he should have taken advantage of to back up Tommy for a change, but once again, he'd royally screwed up.

"Kate?" Eli asked.

"God, boys. Why don't you just put them out on the table and measure already?" Kate asked impatiently. "We're here to unwind, remember?"

Eli started to protest that they weren't seriously arguing, but got cut off when a slightly scruffy looking man stumbled into him.

"Hey, sorry about that," the man said, and turned away, only to crash into Billy. "Whoa! Whoops! Sorry. I really need to watch where I'm going."

"Hey, it's fine, don't worry about it," Billy told him.

"You're all a bunch of idiots!" Tommy said, suddenly sounding seriously angry.

All eyes turned toward Tommy.

"Hey," said Kate angrily, "you need to try to meet us halfway, you know. If you – What are you doing Tommy?"

Tommy had seized the man who'd crashed into Eli and Billy, and had twisted his arm around behind the man's back to the point where it was right about to break.

"Tommy!" Billy shouted and grabbed onto his brother.

Tommy shrugged Billy off and loosened his grip on the man's arm, but kicked him in the back of his knees to knock him down. Then he reached into the front of the man's open jacket and pulled out two wallets.

"Hey, that's mine!" Eli said.

Billy gaped as Tommy shoved Billy's own wallet, as well as Eli's, into his (Billy's) chest.

Then Tommy shoved the pickpocket away from him. "Get out of here, and don't let me see your ugly face again tonight!"

The man obeyed, quickly darting into the crowd.

"Hey! What did you let him go for?" demanded Eli. "We should have turned him into the police!"

"What's the point? Pick pocketing's too petty of a crime. He'd be out of jail by tomorrow, assuming they even booked him for it," said Tommy. "All we'd end up doing is ruining our evening and wasting our time."

"You should –"

Tommy cut him off. "You should learn how not to get fleeced. All of you. If someone walks right into you, the first thing you do is check and make sure you still have your wallet."

"Thank you, Tommy," said Billy. "I'd have been so screwed if I lost this. So really, thanks man."

Tommy's expression changed minutely. For a split second he looked surprised that he was being thanked. Then he nodded. "You're welcome."

Billy smiled at him, and was a little disappointed that Tommy didn't return the smile, but it kind of seemed like Tommy had gotten distracted by something. And Billy didn't think it was a good idea to ask what. He didn't want to risk offending Tommy. Not now that he and Tommy had finally taken a positive step in their brotherly relationship. No one told Tommy that he had to keep them from getting pick pocketed. No one even asked him to, as much because they hadn't thought to worry about pick pockets as because they didn't expect he could or would do anything to stop it from happening to them. But he had, and without any prompting. That could only be a good thing.

"Oh look, shawarma!" cried out Cassie. "I haven't had that in forever. We have to get some!"

And the next thing Billy knew, they were all headed toward a table with some weird grills behind it, and stacks of pita bread on it beside a cash box.

"Food tonight is on me," Kate announced, squeezing her way past the rest of the team, so she was in front of the table. "Six shwar – swarm – six of whatever those are please."

It was when the food was being handed out that they realized Tommy was no longer with them. The lady serving the shawarma had handed the order that would have been for Tommy to Vision, who couldn't eat, and thus hadn't been ordered for.

"Tommy?" Billy asked loudly, turning around and looking for his brother. "Tommy, where'd you go?"

"Typical," huffed Eli. "That guy's got an attention span like a goldfish."

"That guy saved you from getting robbed blind, so be nice," said Teddy.

"What is this shawarma anyway?" Teddy asked, inspecting his carefully.

"Stop looking at it like it's a biohazard," said Cassie. "It's just spiced meat on a pita. The middle eastern equivalent of fast food. And something that the Avengers used to have an unusually obsession for, though I never learned why. But they used to have it all the time when I went to their mansion to visit them with my Dad."

"It's good," Teddy said, clearly surprised after taking one bite. "I can see why they liked it."

"It _is_ good," agreed Kate, talking around a mouthful, and looking beautifully normal rather than stuffy and lady-like.

"And it make us more Avengers-like, eating shwarza," said Teddy.

"Shawarma," Cassie corrected.

"Yeah. What you said."

"It's official, then," said Kate. "No more pizza. From here on out, we're having shawarma delivered."

"What? No!" protested Eli.

"Joking, Patriot. Chill out."

The overall group mood stayed good as they drifted around the festival, grabbing a couple bunches of cotton candy from another vendor when the shawarma was finished, then paying a visit to a temporary body art table, where at Kate's insistence, they all got superhero symbols painted on their faces.

After that they drifted toward the source of the music and made a discovery. Contrary to what they had all believed, it was possible to dance to the crazy instrumental music that was resounding throughout the festival. You just had to be extremely fast, extremely skilled, and have extremely good rhythm.

"Whoa," said Billy, in awe as they watched the dancers, who didn't seem to be professionals, but easily could have been. They weren't wearing coordinating costumes or anything, but many of them were dressed similarly. The women in long flowing skirts, brightly colored tops, a few with scarves tied around their hair, or around their ponytails, or around their waists or necks, all with jewelry, and most of them barefoot. The men in loose fitting long sleeved shirts, some with the sleeves rolled up past their elbows, or with vests over them, dark pants, and just as much jewelry as the ladies. Some of the musicians wore fedoras, but it didn't look like it would be possible to keep them on while dancing, the way most of them were moving.

"Whoa is right," agreed Teddy.

"Looks like Tommy was right," said Kate, sounding highly amused.

"I – he – what are those guys, anyway? Some kind of circus?" asked Eli, definitely annoyed at being proved wrong.

"Gypsies!" Cassie said excitedly. "Look, at that guy playing the fiddle! Isn't that Tommy's gyspy cousin? Raichu?"

"My facial recognition programs confirm that is Rajko," contributed Vision.

"But that guy's not Tommy's cousin," Billy said.

"But he might as well be," said Cassie. "They're both gypsies and they call each other cousins. And Tommy said that's the gypsy way, right?"

"No, Vision said that gypsies all call each other cousins whether they're really cousins or not," said Eli. "Tommy said it's the gypsy way to get married when they're sixteen or younger."

"Do you think he's here somewhere with the other gypsies?" Cassie looked really excited. "Do you think he can dance like that?"

"If he could then he would have said so when we were arguing," said Eli. He looked really annoyed now. "Since he didn't, we should assume that he can't. Besides, do you see any albinos out there on that dance floor?"

Billy scanned them and was a little pleased and a little disappointed at the same time to see there was no one with white hair dancing. Lots of dark haired dancers, a few blondes, even one redhead, but no one with silvery white hair like Tommy. He wasn't sure why he was glad. Maybe it was jealousy. Yeah, that was probably it. He didn't really like Tommy having some other group that he acknowledged as family when he wouldn't admit that he and Billy could be brothers. He wanted Tommy to be _his_ family and no one else's. But at the same time, how cool would it be to just _know_ someone who could dance like _that_.

"I've seen enough," said Eli. "Let's go. There's lots to do here."

"We haven't been here three minutes yet," argued Cassie. "And I want to watch! I want to watch the gypsies dance!"

"I think all you really want is to say 'gypsies' over and over again," muttered Eli.

"Maybe," agree Cassie. "Because they're so cool. I was a gypsy for Halloween once."

"Oh brother," muttered Eli.

The song wound down to a close and after the final notes died out there was a flurry of movement across the dancing area as many of the dancers bowed out for a break, others streamed in, and everyone planning on dancing to the next song searched for a partner to team up with if they didn't have one already.

"Okay, song's over, let's go," said Eli.

"I want to watch the next dance!" Cassie insisted.

"Me too," said Kate.

"Oh, look at that little gypsy girl! Isn't she adorable!" Cassie pointed out a petite little child in a long pleated skirt of patched together pink, purple, and fuchsia fabric, a light pink chiffon shirt, and a pink flower in her hair. She was barefoot as she ran frantically around the dancing area, trying to find a partner, but every man and boy already seemed to have partnered up with someone else. Defeated, and on the verge of tears, the little girl slunk to the edge of the area as the new song started.

"I want to get a picture of her," said Cassie, as she pulled out her phone. "She's so cute. I need a picture of her. Come on!"

The others followed Cassie as she fanatically hurried forward, making her way through the crowd.

They had almost reached the little girl, when someone else got to her first, and they heard a familiar voice.

"Hey, little cousin. Need a partner for this dance?"

The little girl's eyes grew wide and starry, as she turned to find Tommy standing at the edge of the crowd, holding a hand out to her. She immediately seized his hand and then literally tried to drag him into the dancing area, the most adorable grin on her face.

"Whoa, is that . . ?" Teddy trailed off

"Yeah, it is," said Billy, redoubling his efforts to get to the front of the crowd, because he really wanted to watch how this played out. Their view was blocked by a group of tall people momentarily, who they had to fight their way past but then they were right up at the front. And in that small amount of time where they'd lost sight of them, Tommy and the little girl had completely gotten into the groove. Billy felt his jaw drop as he watched them, and knew that the rest of the team was mirroring his expression.

Because if they'd thought the other Romani dancers were amazing, there were no words left to describe Tommy's skills.

Tommy wasn't using his super speed for the dance, but he was moving as fast as any person possibly could without using super speed, clapping his hands or snapping his fingers several times every second, in perfect harmony with the music's rhythm, slapping the bottoms of his shoes, or his thighs, spinning, jumping, moving his feet so fast they were a blur. The little girl wasn't half bad either. In fact for her age, she was clearly really good. Her footwork was only a hair slower and less tricky than Tommy's, and when she spun her skirts looked like a field of wild flowers that had spontaneously burst into flames.

They may have been hanging to the sides of the dance area, not trying to draw more attention than anyone else, but they quickly stole the show. Other dancers nearby noticed them and moved back, stopping their own dance so they could watch Tommy and the little girl spinning with insane speed, jumping, revolving around each other, and simply dancing like that's the only thing they had been born to do.

"Wow," Kate breathed. Billy managed to tear his eyes away from his brother and his brother's dancing partner for a split second and saw Kate watching with undeniable appreciation for what she saw, and had the feeling that look was meant for Tommy alone. Beside her Eli looked a little green, clearly jealous. Cassie was filming with her cell phone, a wide grin on her face. Vision's expression gave away nothing, but beside him, Teddy looked amazed.

"Can you do that?" he asked Billy.

"No way," said Billy. "Nothing even close."

"I love you anyway," Teddy reassured him, slinging an arm around his shoulders.

Within less than a minute after they'd started dancing, Tommy and the little girl were the only ones still dancing. Everyone else had stopped to watch them, though Tommy and the little girl hardly seemed aware of it. They stayed in the same space that they had been, rather than gravitating toward the middle of the dance area, like they definitely would have if they'd been in a movie, or any sort of rehearsed show of any sort. But everything about their performance was clearly spontaneous.

At one point the little girl stumbled, and probably would have fallen, but Tommy caught her before she hit the ground, lifted her up high in the air, and spun her around as though that had been something they'd planned. When he set her down they kept their hands joined for several seconds and she twirled around and around and around, her skirts blossoming outward and showing off the ankle bracelet she wore that was covered with tiny silver bells. She started laughing as they released each other's hands and began dancing around one another again.

So did Tommy.

Tommy started laughing.

Happily.

Laughing like he was having the time of his life. Like he was just a teenager who was having fun. Not laughing like he was planning on spreading someone's face out over every square inch of a parking lot.

Laughing in a way Billy hadn't known he was capable of.

Smiling.

Looking normal. (For a gypsy boy at least)

Looking like someone completely different.

He never looked like that around the Young Avengers.

Conflicting emotions warred inside Billy. Part of him was really happy at finally seeing Tommy so happy and normal. Another part of him, just as large, hated that Tommy could only feel like that when he wasn't doing anything connected with the team. When he was with a bunch of other random people who had no blood ties to him, but with who he felt more at home with than with his own brother. His own _twin_.

And aside from looking happy, Tommy looked different in other ways too. He'd ditched his street shoes, which had been some sort of athletic shoes, rather than the shiny black ones that most of the male dancers who wore shoes were wearing. He was dancing barefoot, and he'd rolled up the sleeves of his shirt so they were slightly above his elbows. And he'd added a few pieces of jewlry to his getup. Not as much as most of the other gypsy guys were wearing, but more than he'd been wearing when he left their base that night. A glance at his "cousin" Rajko revealed the probable reason why. Rajko was only wearing about half the number of trinkets he'd been wearing the last time Billy had seen him, and something told him that he'd given Tommy a loan to help him blend in.

The music began speeding up in a crazy kind of way, and Billy got the feeling that the song was nearing its end. The little girl began struggling to keep up and falling out of rhythm as she struggled to keep moving and stay balanced. Tommy solved that problem by holding out one hand to her. She seized it then began twirling under it, like a crazy out of control top, going faster and faster until the song ended with a shout from all the musicians and other dancers who'd stopped to watch, but had started keeping time for Tommy and his partner by clapping their hands and snapping their fingers. Right on cue with that shout, Tommy had dropped to one knee and caught the little girl as she tried to stop her spinning all at once, and toppled over. He caught her gracefully, when otherwise she would have taken a nasty spill. She squealed happily, like the child she was, and wrapped her arms around his neck.

Then everyone started clapping and whistling at once.

Tommy jerked in surprise and Billy was sure that until that moment, he hadn't realized that he and his partner were the only ones left dancing. He looked around with wide, unbelieving eyes, that came to rest on the team and he suddenly looked like a deer caught in the headlights.

He didn't want us seeing that, realized Billy. That dance, that side of him, was something that Tommy had wanted to keep from the team. Because he was embarrassed? Or because he wanted to keep the real him, and his smiles and laugh for his "family" rather than them?

Before Tommy could stare at them with that guilty, deer in the headlights expression for more than a second though, he winced away, caught in a maelstrom of camera flashes.

The little girl started chattering to him, excitedly as she stood up, then swayed and stumbled, still not recovered from spinning so fast, so many times. Tommy caught her again and steadied her. He kept hold of her hand as she took a bow. And another bow. And then another bow after that, caught up in the applause and cheers for their performance. When she took her fourth bow, Tommy bowed once as well. Then, as soon as he had ascertained that the little girl was steady on her feet again, he beat a hasty retreat, past the other gyspy dancers.

"Wait, Tommy!" Cassie called to him. "I want to get a few more pictures! Tommy!"

"I don't think he heard you," Kate said. She sounded really happy all of a sudden. Like she was on the verge of laughing. Not laughing at anyone, for any cruel reason, but just laughing because she was suddenly in such a good mood. Cassie wore the same expression, Billy realized. And so did Teddy. Even Vision looked happy.

But Billy was pretty sure the same expression wasn't on his face. He was glad that he'd gotten to see Tommy do something like that. It did make him very happy to get more insight into the kind and fun person that his brother could be. But that feeling was greatly dampened by the fact that Tommy apparently didn't feel like he could be that person around the team. Only to this other "family" of his.

"I think he heard you, he just didn't care," said Eli.

"What?" asked Cassie, raising her voice over the continued cheers and clapping. "I didn't hear what you just said!"

Eli heaved a sigh. "Nevermind."

"What?"

"Nevermind!"

"Let's go find him!" Cassie started in the direction they'd seen Tommy disappear in.

Billy stopped her, grabbing her arm, and shook his head. "We're not going to find him until he wants to be found," he said loudly enough for her to hear. "Come on. He'll meet back up with us if we just drift around."

"What makes you think that?"

"Call it a twintuition."

They headed away from the dancing, which proceeded after the little girl stopped taking bows. That only happened after she realized Tommy wasn't there anymore, spun around several times looking for him, then ran off to go find him. Which was, Billy couldn't help but admit, ridiculously adorable.

"That was amazing," said Kate as they headed back the way they'd come. "I had no idea Tommy could . . . could do _that._"

"It's not as impressive when you take into the fact that he has super speed," said Eli.

"Except when you know that he wasn't using that super speed," said Teddy. "You know as well as the rest of us that he wasn't."

Eli muttered something that was undecipherable. Billy ignored him. He was trying to push away his own negative feelings about what he had seen. Because he knew that what he'd seen was amazing. That anyone could move that way was amazing on its own, but that his brother could move that way? That was unbelievable. And adorable. Because Billy knew in his gut that Tommy wouldn't have danced at all if not for that little girl who was about to cry because she couldn't find anyone to dance with her. He couldn't explain how he knew it. He just did.

It was a lot to come to terms with. That underneath the cold, jaded speedster who seemed determine not to open up to the team, or let them in, or trust them, or even liked him, there was a sweet young man who'd dance with a little girl to keep her from crying, keep a careful eye on her to make sure she didn't fall and hurt herself, sacrifice the spotlight in the last few seconds of the dance for her, because Tommy had been easily keeping pace with that insanely fast rhythm, and just . . . just be a nice, decent, likeable, normal guy. Someone who Billy wished he could get to know better. Someone who Billy really, really wanted to know better.

"Oh look, a fortune teller!"

Cassie had spotted a purple tent covered with stars, with a beaded curtain in front of the entrance.

"Let's get our fortunes told! Come on!"

"Um, you do know this is fake, right?" asked Eli.

"Nah ah. Look at the sign. 'Real Gypsy Palm Readings,'" read Cassie.

"Like I said, fake."

"We already know there are real gypsies here," Cassie argued.

"Just because they're real gypsies doesn't mean they're real fortune tellers," said Eli. "Besides, we've got a real mage on our team. And we have enough hero community credit that if we really needed to, I think we could ask for a few favors and get in touch with a real psychic. We don't need to go taking fake advice from a carnie."

"Aw, come on, Eli," Kate said. "Everyone knows that it's not real. It's just fun."

"Want to?" Teddy asked Billy.

Billy shrugged. "Sure. It seems like fun. And harmless enough, as long as we know to take what the lady says with a grain of salt."

"Bad idea." Tommy was suddenly blocking Billy's way.

"Tommy –"

"Please listen, Billy, when I tell you, for the love of God, _don't_." Tommy said, staying firmly between Billy and the fortune teller's tent.

"Tommy, you were amazing back there," Cassie said. "I wish you'd stayed beside that little gypsy girl longer though, I wanted more pictures."

"Thanks Cassie. And, uh, you have a bug on your face, if you didn't notice," said Tommy, only barely glancing at her.

"It's face painting. It's –"

"Why don't you think I should go see this fortune teller?" Billy asked, looking at Tommy confused.

"You believe we're brothers, right?" Tommy asked instead of answering.

"Yeah, but –"

"Twins in fact. And look." Tommy grabbed Billy's left wrist and turned his hand over so that his palm was up. Billy blinked at him in surprise, because Tommy rarely initiated physical contact of any sort. But then he held his own left hand out and placed it right beside Billy's for them all to see.

"Your . . . your handprints are identical," said Cassie.

"How is that even possible?" asked Kate. "Doesn't everyone have different handprints and fingerprints? Even twins?"

"Ours aren't completely identical, but some parts of them are," said Tommy. He traced part of one of a line on his hand, then traced it again on Billy's hand. "Like at the beginnings of our lifelines, and the sections near the end of them. The middles have a lot of variation –"

"Oh my God! You're a gypsy palm reader!" Cassie said. "Hey, do mine next!"

"I'm not a palm reader," Tommy said quickly. "Not like Christine."

"Who?"

Tommy pointed behind him, toward the fortune teller tent. "My cousin."

"When you say cousin, do you mean –"

"I don't read palms. I've just noticed that parts of mine and parts of Billy's are pretty damn near identical. And when I was six, Christine read my palm. She . . . started screaming that I was demon spawn and throwing dishes at me. Teacups, saucers, the whole tea kettle, her crystal ball, but that wasn't a dish. It was a really memorable occasion. I'm trying to save you from an equally memorable occasion, Billy."

Billy stared at him, having a hard time believing what he was hearing. Tommy was trying to protect him. "O-okay," he agreed. "I won't go in there."

Tommy let go of Billy's hand. Billy hadn't even realized he was still holding onto it until Tommy let go of him. "Thank you," Tommy said. And he looked a little bit relieved.

"But you do know this means you're admitting that you believe we're twins."

"It means no such thing," said Tommy.

"Oh yes it does," grinned Billy.

"Whatever," said Tommy. "I'm starving. I'm going to hit up the food vendors."

"You wouldn't be hungry if you'd stuck with us instead of disappearing," said Eli.

"Yeah, you missed out on shawarma," said Teddy. "I ate yours. Sorry."

"What's shawarma?" Tommy asked.

"The new official food of the Young Avengers," said Kate.

"Yet another thing we've stolen from the real Avengers," Billy added.

"Oh yeah, speaking of stealing . . ." Tommy turned back around and shoved Billy's wallet into his chest again. "Are you really that determined to donate to charity tonight?"

"What? Where did you?"

"At the end of that dance. I looked up just in time to see you letting yourself get pick pocketed _again_. Where did you think I was going?" demanded Tommy. "To hide from you guys?"

"Thanks Tommy," said Billy. "That's the second time you've saved my bacon tonight."

"Don't make me make a habbit of it. Get a chain. Or put some kind of spell on it. Or get a man purse and handcuff yourself to it. I don't care. Just do something."

"Let me buy you dinner," Billy requested.

Tommy looked at him with familiar suspicion. "What's the catch?"

"There's no catch, Tommy," said Billy trying not to sound exasperated. "It's payback for getting my wallet back for me twice. In one night. I really appreciate it and want to thank you for it."

Tommy gave Billy a look that made him feel like he'd done something wrong, or had just been caught in a lie, which was ridiculous, since he very surely hadn't. He kept that look trained on Billy for several very long seconds, and if Billy had really been trying to hide anything or lying to him, he definitely would have come clean right then and there. But then, Tommy apparently decided that Billy was telling the truth, and his expression returned to normal. "All . . . alright."

"You dance really good, by the way," said Billy.

"Seriously, that was amazing, Tommy," said Kate.

"I've never seen anything that cool in my life," said Cassie.

"It was pretty awesome," agreed Teddy.

"Er, thanks," said Tommy.

"Where did you learn to do that?" Cassie asked.

"From my cousins."

"The cousins who aren't your cousins?" asked Eli.

"Don't be a jerk," said Tommy.

"I wasn't. I was just asking. Your real cousins or just other random gypsies?"

Tommy responded in Romani. Billy had a feeling that whatever he said wasn't very nice, if his tone was anything to go by.

The group separated when they got back to the food vendors, with Kate, Eli, Cassie, and Teddy stopping at a funnel cake stand, while Billy followed Tommy to another stall that was selling candy apples.

"That's all you want for dinner?" asked Billy. "A candy apple?"

"Three candy apples," Tommy corrected him.

Billy decided to accept this and nodded, then handed the money over to the food vendor, buying one for himself too. Then, as they started to walk back toward the others, he decided to say what was pretty much a summed up version of what he'd been feeling all night.

"I'm really glad I got to see you dance. I've never seen you look that happy before, Tommy. And though I really wish that you could be that happy with the team too, I'm glad that there are places where you can be that happy, even if it's not with us."

Tommy looked at him surprised. "I'm not unhappy with the team."

"But you're not as happy with us as you are with then," said Billy. He tried not to let his jealousy sound through in his voice.

"That's because when I'm with you guys, people are usually trying to kill us when we're out together," said Tommy. "Even when we're not, I know there's always at least one person who wants me locked back up in juvie. I don't wanna name names but like . . . Eli."

"I won't let that happen. I promise," Billy told him.

"It's not like you're going to get any say in it if it happens again," said Tommy.

"Want to bet?" Billy asked.

"Billy –"

"What they did to you wasn't just wrong, it was unconstitutional. It was cruel and unusual punishment. And I'm not letting them do it to you again."

"You'd go against the police for me?" Tommy's voice made it clear he didn't believe that for a second.

"Yeah, I would. If the police are trying to deny you your constitutional rights then that means they're breaking the law. And they're not allowed to do that," said Billy. "Neither are superheroes. Not the Avengers, not the X-Men, no one. So I'll make you a promise –"

"Please, spare me."

"Shut up," said Billy. "Here's the promise: If someone comes after you, wanting to put you back in juvie, I'll stop them."

"You –"

"Shut up. I'll stop them," said Billy, "and give you time to get away and get out of America, somewhere that they have no legal holding over you. Mexico, or Canada, or Wundagore. And if they do manage to catch you, I'll come get you. I promise."

Tommy hadn't believed him last time he said something similar. Or maybe he had, or had almost. Billy remembered that he looked like he'd wanted to believe.

This time though, this time he did believe. Billy could see it in his eyes.

"Thanks," Tommy said gruffly. "And I promise you the same thing. Because, you know, the same people who want me back would love to get their hands on you, or any other mutant too, you know. There's a lot of people who would. So I promise that if you get captured, I'll come bust you out, and leave whatever facility was holding you in ruins. The people who were holding you too."

Billy knew that he should have probably said something about that last part not being necessary, but stopped himself. Because he realized just in time that was Tommy's way of trying to be protective. And now that they were finally making progress as brothers, he didn't want to ruin it.

The rest of the team was still waiting in line for funnel cakes, so they sat down on a nearby bench rather than joining them in line. Billy noticed that Tommy had taken off his gypsy bling, unrolled his sleeves, and put back on his shoes. He looked like his old self again. But that didn't make Billy as happy as he thought it would. Not after seeing how free and happy Tommy had looked while dancing.

"So . . . did it take you a long time to learn to dance?" asked Billy.

"Not really," said Tommy. "The steps aren't hard to learn. It just takes a lot of time and effort to be good. But I guess that's how it is for everything. If you think it's worth it then you put the time and effort into it."

"Yeah," agreed Billy. In his mind he saw his brother laughing with that little girl again, as they danced in crazy circles around one another. "I wish I could learn to dance like that."

"I . . . could teach you," Tommy volunteered hesitantly. "If you really want to learn."

Billy was surprised. He hadn't been expecting an offer like that at all. "Would . . . would you mind?"

"No. I wouldn't mind," said Tommy around a mouthful of candy apple. That helped make their conversation a little less intense. Scarfing down candy apples like that. At least it made Billy feel like it was a little less serious, a little more casual. Like they were really brothers, not just trying really hard to be brothers.

"I'd like that," Billy told him. "A lot. Thanks."

* * *

I thought it was time for a chapter that was a little on the lighter side. This is definitely not the last chapter, btw. Billy and Tommy aren't anywhere near the end of their quest to become real brothers. This is just more like the first time they actually understand each other. The first time Billy stops being jealous that Tommy has another (kind of) family (that is also not really related to him), and is just glad that he has people who can make him laugh and smile. And the first time Tommy accepts that Billy is really sincere about wanting to be his brother, and the first time he believes that there's someone on the team who will stand up to all the others if they want to send him back to juvie. They're a long way from where they want to be. There will still be misunderstandings, jealousy, post traumatic stress, and a whole slew of other problems standing in their way. But there'll also be lots of good times, pranks and jokes, family moments, and protectiveness.

And in case anyone was worried, that little girl Tommy was dancing with is NOT his wife, fiancé, or anything else like that. She's just a little girl who was about to cry because she couldn't find anyone who would dance with her, so Tommy volunteered.


	5. Chapter 5

Summary: "I promise that if you get captured, I'll come bust you out, and leave whatever facility was holding you in ruins. The people who were holding you too." That was the promise Tommy made to Billy. And Tommy takes his promises seriously.

Character Bashing Disclaimer: Any perceived character bashing was, again, not done out of malice on my part. This chapter is written from Tommy's limited POV, and includes his feelings toward everyone and anyone who had any hand in any of the times Billy was captured, imprisoned, taken into custody, kidnapped, or nearly kidnapped. And as Tommy doesn't like people messing with his little brother, or the idea of anyone hurting his little brother, this writing reflects that. Some of his feelings and reactions are on the extreme side, but considering what we know of his past, and his personality, I think they're in line with his character. I don't mean for this to be a personal attack on anyone's favorite superheroes.

Promises, Promises

The first time Tommy had to keep that promise was during the Civil War, after their run in with the Runaways and those bastard cape killers, when the cape killers abducted Billy and Teddy, and those two other guys on the Runaways team. Karol and Xander, or whatever they were called. Didn't matter. The mission was the same.

Priority 1: Bust Billy and Teddy out.

Priority 2: Without getting captured.

Priority 3: Get the other abductees out too, if possible.

Priority 4: Leave everything and everyone else in ruins.

It wasn't like it came to any surprise to Tommy that this was suddenly necessary. He'd seen the writing on the wall. He'd known what was going to happen the minute Iron Man sold out and got the Superhuman Registration Act passed.

Because though Tommy wasn't a genius and didn't even consider himself that smart, he could at least learn from history. Especially history that he lived through.

It started with a mistake. It ended with super powered people being strapped down to tables and dissected in the name of what was right. And of course, since might makes right, morality would suddenly be dictated by the biggest bullies on the playground. Like those bitches at SHIELD who believed they were the law, and all the sadists they stocked their labs with, to deal with the "super powered menaces." And suddenly the definition of wrong was any super powered person opposed to helping the government turn other super powered people into lab rats.

And for the first time, Tommy had been proud of his team. Proud to stand side by side with people who had seen what was really right, and what was really wrong, and decided to take a stand. Even without the promise he made to Billy, the promise to come for him if ever he was captured, Tommy would still have gone to get him. And Teddy. His teammates. His liberators. Because even though he liked to claim that whatever debt he'd owed to them for freeing him had been paid, he knew there would always be a part of him that never stopped owing them. But even if they hadn't been the ones to free him, they'd still just chosen to side against the people who thought it was okay to turn super powered kids (and yeah, adults too) into living weapons to be used at the whims of shady government organizations. Because that was where the Superhuman Registration Act was going to end, and Tommy knew it.

So they'd busted the Cube wide open and got his brother, and Teddy, and the two Runaways the fuck out of there, and completely trashed that joint, then as an added bonus, liberated another living weapon who chose to stay behind and take care of cleaning up. They didn't ask what he meant by that. At that point they didn't really care. But Tommy had seen it in Noh Varr's eyes. It was the same look he knew had been in his own eyes when the Young Avengers busted him out of juvie, but before they told him he couldn't go with them if he chose to be a murderer.

Tommy decided not to tell the others about that look.

He wasn't about to stand in the way of another former weapon's revenge.

* * *

The second time Billy needed rescuing took longer to bust him out. That Zone 42 crap or whatever they were calling it was complete BS.

And Tommy didn't let anyone know, but every minute that Billy was gone, it was killing him. _Killing him._ A thousand scenarios played in his mind. Billy strapped down to a lab table, gagged and blind folded, being dissected alive. Billy being drugged with experimental medicines, just so they could chart out the side effects. Billy being dosed with nerve agents, leaving him paralyzed, but awake, as doctors sawed open his cranium, then took tiny, tiny knives and cut away at his brain, concentrating on the areas that controlled his conscience and morality, just like they had with Tommy.

That last scenario was the worst, and too many times, Tommy caught himself with his hands pressed against the sides of his face, his fingertips touching the scars that were hidden by his hair.

And as Tommy waited, he made another promise. If they did that to Billy, he would murder the families of every single registered superhero. All of them. From Iron Man (say goodbye to Jarvis and Ms. Potts, you sellout), to Mr. Fantastic (say goodbye to your kids, if you can find the time to), to Stature (guess who won't have to worry about fighting with their stepdad or mom ever again?). He would show them exactly what they were fighting to do. He would let them learn first hand why they shouldn't try to turn people into conscienceless weapons. And he would fuck up their families the way they fucked up his.

Thankfully, when all was said and done, it didn't come to that. When they did their massive scale jailbreak and busted all their captured comrades out, Billy was just fine. Tommy checked for scars under Billy's hair just to make sure that was really true. And when he found none, he was relieved beyond words. Because after delivering copies of that letter of warning to Stark, Reed Richards, and Cassie, making sure they were aware of the consequences of any experiments on his brother, Tommy would have had no choice but to go through with his threats.

And he _would_ have done it too.

. . . well, maybe not to Fantastic's kids, but definitely to everyone else.

Then Captain America suddenly turned into the world's biggest pussy and surrendered, and Tommy's priority changed from beating the crap out of the bastards who separated him from his brother, to getting his team the hell out of Dodge.

It only took a second to scoop up Billy, sprint off site, stash him somewhere safe, then make return trips for Teddy, Kate, Eli, Vision, and Cassie, before remembering that Cassie wasn't on the team anymore, and ditching her in a sewer. (Months later, when she rejoined the team, she still hadn't forgiven Tommy for that, but that was fine. For Tommy, forgiveness had never even been an option. Not for someone who helped take his brother away from him)

* * *

After that, Tommy made every possible effort to keep Billy from getting captured again. He checked in with him like fifty times every day, and knew that he was probably being annoying, but he didn't care. He'd take an annoyed Billy to a lobotomized Billy any day. So when Billy got it into his head to go globe trotting to find the Scarlet Witch, Tommy was there. And when the Skrulls attacked, and the Young Avengers were the only goddamn super heroes in New York at the time of invasion, he stuck to his brother like glue. He just knew that if he turned his back for two seconds, Billy would get snatched up by the Skrulls. And while yeah, Billy did try really, really hard to get himself separated from everyone else in his insane attempt to stay with Teddy, Tommy still managed to stick with him.

Then came Norman Osborne and his Buckets of Crazy Reign, then the Siege of Asgard, and really, who didn't see that crap coming? Then Cap took over SHIELD and finally, everything started settling down again. Everything started going back to the way it was before the Civil War, and for awhile, everything was good.

* * *

And then, just when Tommy thought he could relax, Billy got captured again.

By the motherfucking Avengers.

Tommy should have known better than to trust them. He should have known better than to trust anyone, let alone any group that had both Iron Man (once a sellout, always a sellout) and Ms. I'm Just Following Orders Like A Good Soldier Bitch Marvel on it, even if Cap usually was an ally. They were all very subtle and sneaky about wanting to take Billy into custody, yeah, but Tommy knew where it would end.

He had been proud, very proud of his little brother, when Billy told them what they could do with their offer and walked out on them. But when he told Billy as much, Billy's reaction left something to be desired.

"Thanks Tommy, that means a lot. Now would anyone other than the team sociopath care to weigh in on this?"

And right then Tommy wished that he really was a sociopath, so that Billy's reaction wouldn't have stung so damn much.

But when Tommy learned not even an hour later that the Avengers pulled a nasty, filthy, tricksy, bitch stunt and abducted Billy right out of his own freaking apartment, he didn't even hesitate to go _get him back_. Again. Because Tommy had made Billy a promise. And if he didn't watch out for Billy, no one would.

* * *

Then Magneto tried to abduct them both, but at least Tommy could count on him not to strap them down to any lab tables and shove ice picks in their eyes. In fact, if Tommy trusted anyone then Magneto would have been the one person in the world Tommy would have trusted not to do that to them. And not because the man thought he was their grandfather, but because if Magneto had ever fought for anything, ever, it was so that mutant kids wouldn't be strapped down and vivisected at some bastard human's whim, and _everyone_ knew that.

But Magneto had ceased his kidnapping attempts (though maybe it wasn't kidnapping if he was their grandfather, because that might have given him some sort of legal guardian status, maybe), but before they could hear him out, the Avengers had come and tried to kidnap Billy back. And stupid _grandpa_ had put Tommy in a magnetic shield bubble during the ensuing fight, and kept him from taking some much anticipated revenge on the sellout squad.

* * *

When Quicksilver tried to kidnap Billy, not even an hour later, Tommy had just about had enough. How many times could Billy really get abducted in one freaking day? Thankfully, it was as easy to get Quicksilver to give Billy back, as it was to keep up with him, since old age was catching up with his dear uncle, just as easily as Tommy himself had caught up with him, then beaten him in their race. (Never mind that in their rematch race, Quicksilver won, because Tommy so would have kicked his butt in the tie breaker)

* * *

Then, after Quicksilver's kind of attempt at kidnapping Billy, Tommy really shouldn't have had to worry about his brother getting captured again, given the people keeping an eye on him included: one of the most powerful mutants in all of history, the two fastest men alive, and one extremely protective boyfriend, but somehow, Billy still managed to get himself caught by Dr. Doom.

One invasion of Latveria later, followed by a quick dip in the time stream, and a round of Avengers vs. X-Men, and Tommy found him and Billy nearly both getting abducted by their dear "Auntie Emma."

* * *

And when it was all said and done, and their team fell apart, with Billy claiming he was going to give up being a super hero, a small part of Tommy couldn't help but feel at least a little bit of relief.

The situation wasn't by any means ideal. They'd lost more than they should have, and he didn't agree with the defeatist attitudes that all their remaining members were sporting. He really believed that Billy, and Eli, and Kate were all making big mistakes, and was even a little mad at all of them for giving up. He would have been more mad if he didn't really think they'd shake off their pity parties in a week or two, after they'd had time to grieve and get their heads back on straight.

But that small part of him was still relieved that Billy was going to put the hero thing on the back burner for awhile. Hopefully it would mean that he'd stay safe for awhile.


	6. Gypsies, Tramps, and Runaways

Summary: Sometimes it seems to Billy like everyone is trying to steal his brother away from him.

Gypsies, Tramps, And Runaways

(They're all thieves!)

Part 1: Gypsies

Billy wasn't the jealous type. Not usually. Teddy would tell you, Billy wasn't any more possessive of him than the average guy was of his significant other. In large part, because he trusted that Teddy loved him back, and would never run off with someone else.

The same could not be said for Tommy. Not that Billy and his brother were dating or anything of the sort. But he didn't know if Tommy loved him. And he couldn't be sure that Tommy would stick with the Young Avengers.

He wanted him to. Both to love him, and stay with the Young Avengers. Because Billy really believed that Tommy was his twin, and weren't brothers supposed to stick together? But Tommy was . . . hard to understand. That was the politest way of putting it. He'd been on the wrong side of the law for awhile, and was unpredictable, impulsive, sometimes selfish, and he wasn't particularly fond of sharing his thoughts, if you wanted to go into detail. Billy knew he had reasons for acting the way he did. Tommy had been through a lot. More than anyone his age should have to. More than anyone at all should have to. Billy just wished that he would open up more, so that the team could help him work through whatever issues he had. But then, Tommy didn't seem too fond of the team as a whole either. He never hung out with them except when they went on patrol, or on nights when they had missions. All the rest of the team, they were all friends, but Tommy . . . Tommy didn't show any interest in being their friend.

In fact, the only person it seemed to Billy that Tommy had any interest in being friends with was that gypsy guy they ran into in the supermarket. Rajko. Tommy's "cousin" who wasn't really his cousin.

Tommy shared very little of his life with the team. It was assumed that Tommy was living in his room at their headquarters. They all had rooms there, but few of them used them for more than storage, or the occasional nap. Tommy seemed to spend more time in his than anyone else did in theirs, but when asked if he was living there, was evasive. And defensive. And paranoid, demanding to know who told them to ask him that. He flat out refused to talk about his parents, or if he'd contacted them, which Billy took to mean that he'd either tried, and it hadn't went well, or he was on such bad terms with them that he had no intentions of contacting them any time soon. Billy thought he would have been okay with it if Tommy had gone back to one or both of his parents to live with them, but for some reason the mere idea of Tommy hanging out with that Rajko guy, who wasn't his real cousin, grated at Billy's nerves like nothing else.

Tommy didn't talk about meeting up with Rajko, but it was pretty obvious when he did. He left their headquarters, or came back to it, wearing the fedora Rajko had given him, and a distasteful assortment of jewelry. Always several rings, and several necklaces, and several bracelets. Because just wearing one of each was clearly underachieving.

It ticked Billy off for reasons that he couldn't explain, knowing that Tommy was hanging out with his pseudo-cousin. But what really took the cake, was when that idiot Rajko had the audacity to track down Billy, and wanted to have a conversation with him.

"Hey." Rajko suddenly appeared in front of Billy as he was on his way to school one morning. "I want a word."

Billy jumped in surprise then glared. "You. Raichu, wasn't it?"

"Rajko," the gypsy boy corrected. "And you're Billy. Tommy's told me a little about you."

"Yeah? What did he say?" Billy asked warily. He wasn't sure he liked Tommy talking about him to his fake cousin.

"Not much, besides you guys might be brothers. Which, I must say, is a load of bull." Rajko gave Billy a cold look. "I don't know how you got him to buy that shit, but you and I both know it's not true."

"It might be true," said Billy. "And I think it is."

"I've looked at this from every angle, you know," said Rajko. "Tried to see it from your perspective, tried to see it from Tommy's. Tried to see what you could possibly gain from this. And I've still got nothing."

"I'm not trying to gain anything," snapped Billy. "I just think that he really might be my –"

"He's not."

"Kind of like how he's not really your cousin?" Billy asked.

"We're gypsies. We call all other gypsies our cousins. Ergo, he is my cousin. But he's not your brother. Not even your half brother. And nothing you say is going to convince me otherwise, because I know Tommy's mom," said Rajko angrily. "She left our way of life because she thought she was in love with a _gadje_, and now she can never come back. Not really. She wouldn't have cheated on the man who she thought was worth leaving behind her family, and everything she ever knew. Which means that you are not Tommy's brother, however much you look like him. I don't know what kind of a con you think you're running, and I don't care. I'm here to warn you to back the fuck off."

"Me back off?" demanded Billy. "You should be the one who backs off. I'm not running any kind of con. I genuinely think he's my brother, even if the how and why of it is complicated. But you? You're not his cousin. You're just some random guy –"

"No, I'm his family. And I'm not buying what you're saying. You're not his brother, even if you do look like him. And I don't like how you're influencing him."

"Influencing him how?"

"Messing with his head. Making him more like a _gadje_ than a gypsy. Ever since he met you, he's been doing stupid, dangerous stuff."

Billy tensed. If Tommy had told his "cousin" about how they were superheroes, there could be trouble. Their secret identities in the hands of a stranger would be bad. "What do you mean?"

"I mean that not only has he been shying away from petty crime, he's actually been working to prevent violent crime. Last week he stopped a mugging, where the guy had a switchblade, and yesterday he jumped into the middle of a gang fight and disarmed everyone," growled Rajko. "I can see you asking him to stop pickpocketing and conning. That would make sense if, and I'm not saying I believe it, but if you really think he's your brother. I can even get you messing with his head enough that he won't let me pickpocket people when he's around which, by the way, is freakin' annoying. But making him think it's not just okay, but obligatory to try to stop people with guns and knives . . . you're going to get him killed you stupid _gadje_ moron!"

"Tommy . . . he what?" Billy could barely believe what Rajko had just told him.

"He thinks he's some kind of hero! Claims he's turned over a new leaf, and I know it's your fault!" Rajko said angrily. "He was never like this before he met you."

"Did you think that maybe it was juvie that changed, him, not me?" Billy asked, even though he didn't believe that himself. Not with what he knew about the juvie Tommy was in.

"No, I don't think, mainly because he said, in so many words, that he was trying to be better so he'd fit in with you and your stupid crowd!" said Rajko. "So tell me, where do you get off telling him to jump headfirst into gang fights? Where do you get off telling him to turn his back on our way of life?"

"I never told him to jump into gang fights!" shouted Billy. And it was true. He'd told Tommy to take out the Super-Skrull, and the Kree army, and dozens of super villains, but he'd never told Tommy to take a stand against any crime he saw happening on the street. That Tommy would go and do that on his own made Billy feel very proud of his brother. Like he was getting through to him maybe after all. No, not maybe. Definitely. It was a very good feeling, knowing that his brother was actively trying to fit in with the team, in his own way, even if showing it was difficult for him.

"Well, you said something that made him think that's what you wanted him to do," Rajko shouted back at Billy. "And I'm telling you now, you need to stop it. Stop screwing with his head, stop pretending you think you two are brothers, and stop trying to make him like you! Like a _gadje_. Because he's not one of you. He's Romani. We're his family and he belongs with us! And in a month, he'll be leaving here with us."

"What?" Billy felt like Rajko had just drenched him in ice water. "What do you mean?"

"I mean gypsies don't have permanent residences. We travel. We'll be leaving New York, and we'll be taking Tommy with us," said Rajko.

"You can't do that!"

" Of course I can. He's family. He belongs with his own kind, and while I appreciate your friend giving him a roof over his head while he's in the city, you had to now it wasn't going to be permanent. He may plan never to go back to his father's place in Jersey again, but if he comes with us, eventually he will find his mom. You have to know that's what's best for him."

Billy found himself at a loss for words. He just gaped at Rajko. Tommy hadn't told him anything about never planning to go back to his father, or not even knowing where his mother was. He couldn't even imagine what it must be like, to never want to see one of his parents again, and have no idea where the other was. Unless you counted the Scarlet Witch being a third parent of his. And he wasn't positive that was true.

"So, what I'm telling you now is that you're not doing Tommy any favors screwing with his head like you are," said Rajko. "So knock it off."

"You knock it off," Billy growled at Rajko. "And don't think you can just take my brother away."

"Don't think that you can just take my cousin away."

The two teens glared at each other. And kept glaring at each other. For several minutes. Neither of them wanted to be the first to look away and admit defeat. So even though Billy knew he was going to be late to school, he stood there and glared at Rajko for all he was worth.

They might have stood there all morning, if not for a passing police officer who saw them and realized something was up.

"Is there a problem, kids?" the officer asked, looking at them suspiciously.

Rajko immediately broke his glare away and raised his hat to the cop. "No problem, officer. I was just leaving." He beat it out of there quickly after that, melting into the crowd as only someone with a log of practice at disappearing could do.

"Yeah, no problem," Billy echoed. "I've got to get to school."

Billy was very careful around Tommy for the next few months. He was worried about Rajko's threat of taking Tommy away, and did everything he could to give his brother a reason to stay. Thankfully, Teddy was very understanding, especially after he told Teddy about what happened with Rajko. Teddy didn't want to see Tommy leave the team either. They made an effort to hang out with Tommy more, and tried to take an interest in what Tommy did. As the first month after that conversation with Rajko drew to a close, Billy found himself growing more and more anxious, worried that Tommy would leave them. But he didn't. In fact, he never even brought up leaving the team and running off with the gypsies. And Billy was too afraid to bring up the topic on his own.

It was Cassie who finally breached the topic, without even meaning to.

"Hey Tommy, how's your gypsy cousin?" she asked one day while Tommy was watching some crime drama show on TV, and Billy was sitting beside him, doing homework during commercials.

Billy tensed, not sure he wanted to hear the answer, but also insanely curious.

"He's good. He's in New Mexico now," said Tommy, not noticing that Billy was turning green with worry. "We found this place that makes the best chimichangas ever in Phoenix."

"Wait, what?" Billy found himself asking.

"Huh?" asked Tommy.

"You . . . New Mexico? What?" Billy stammered.

"Super speed, remember?" said Tommy. "I can get to the other side of the country in seconds."

"That's so cool," said Cassie. "But what did your gypsy cousin go to New Mexico for?"

Tommy gave Cassie an annoyed look. Billy got the idea he didn't appreciate her liking to use the word "gypsy" so much, but he didn't say anything about that to her. "Most Romani don't stay in one place forever," he told her. "Most of us don't have permanent homes."

"So Rajko knows you have super speed?" Billy asked, dreading the answer. Because if Rajko knew that, then he knew Tommy was Speed. And if he knew Tommy was Speed, he had a good idea who his teammates were.

"No," said Tommy. "Or if he does, it's not because I told him."

"Then how do you explain how you get from New York to New Mexico every time you want to hang out with him?" asked Cassie.

"He kind of doesn't know that I'm still living here," Tommy explained.

"But . . . but how?" asked Billy.

"What do you mean how?" asked Tommy. "I just haven't told him."

"But they don't think it's weird that you're always disappearing?" Billy asked.

Tommy shook his head. "It's not like I'm pretending to live with them."

"What? They don't ask where you're living?"

Tommy shook his head again.

"I – what- why not?" Billy asked, indignant on his brother's behalf.

Tommy shrugged. "No one really cares what I do or where I live."

Billy wanted to protest that. Because he did care what Tommy did, and where he was staying. He just wasn't sure how to show it. Or how to say it without sounding like an idiot or an over emotional sap.

"Well, that's probably useful at times, right?" asked Cassie. "I just wish my mom and stepfather didn't care what I did. You're really lucky that you don't have to worry about anyone nagging you."

Tommy shrugged. "Yep. Lucky. That's me. Now quiet, please. The show's back on."

Billy frowned as he put his homework aside. He knew he should have been feeling relieved. Tommy wasn't leaving the team and running off with his gypsy relatives. He'd figured out a way to spend time with his cousin, and still stay with the team, thanks to his powers. He wouldn't be quitting, ditching them in favor of his Romani relatives and friends. That should have made Billy feel good. It should have been a victory.

But it wasn't.

Because Billy realized that in some ways, he and the rest of the team were no better than Tommy's family. They'd never acted like they cared where Tommy was living, or what he was doing either. And all that it would take from Billy to fix that was one question, one comment, just one time where he opened his mouth and asked Tommy what his living arrangements were, and if he was okay with them, or if maybe he'd prefer something different, and if there was something Billy could do to help.

But Billy didn't know how.

And it was a cold comfort that apparently the rest of Tommy's family didn't know how either.

* * *

Part 2: Tramps

"Come with me! Join my guys!" both Speed and Coat of Arms said in unison, as the fake Young Avengers prepared to make their exit, aided by Enchantress's magic. Surprise creased both their faces as they processed the fact that the other one had just said the exact same thing, then again, they spoke in perfect harmony. "What? No!"

Then Coat of Arms lunged toward Tommy and put one hand on his shoulder, while using another to block the stream of energy Osborn had fired at Tommy. She kissed him full on the lips, then let her hand trail down his chest as she stepped back. "But I'll try to see you . . . soon."

Billy noticed the longing in both their eyes as Enchantress's spell enveloped Coat of Arms. And he noticed Tommy take a step toward her, one hand stretched outward as though he'd just changed his mind. But if he had, it was too late. Coat of Arms and the rest of the punks who'd stolen the name "Young Avengers" had disappeared.

It was just a damn good thing that Osborne and his two phony Avengers decided to retreat with their tails tucked between their legs, because if they'd stayed, Billy would have gone all chaos magic on them. He could feel possessive rage simmering inside him.

Who did that crazy artist slut think she was, trying to steal away _his_ brother?

When they got back to their own base, the others called for pizza and broke out the sodas to celebrate. Billy watched as Tommy slunk away, unnoticed, toward his room, then followed, suddenly and irrationally worried that Tommy was going to try to go find Coat of Arms.

He knocked on Tommy's door, then opened it without waiting for an answer. Tommy paused in the act of stripping off his uniform and raised an eyebrow at Billy.

"Do you mind?"

"Sorry," said Billy. "I just wanted to talk."

He didn't even have time to blink before Tommy had used his speed to finish changing and was sitting cross legged on his bed. "Talk," he ordered.

"I heard what you and Coat said to each other," said Billy.

"Okay," said Tommy. "So?"

"So I know that she invited you to go with them," said Billy.

"I know that too. I'm the one she invited," Tommy reminded him. "Is there a point to this conversation?"

"You chose to stay with us." Billy refused to verbally acknowledge the worry that was burning a hole in his gut, that Tommy might change his mind.

"Obviously, or else I wouldn't be here. Having this conversation with you. Again, is there a point to this?" asked Tommy.

"Kind of," said Billy. He wasn't really sure what the point was himself though. He wasn't sure what he'd set out for when he decided to talk to Tommy. "I was wondering why she thought you'd go with her."

Tommy raised an eyebrow at him. "Um, because we're friends? Because I told her she was hot, which she correctly took to mean I'm into her? Or maybe because we have a history. Take your pick."

"History?" asked Billy. He'd thought that Tommy just had a crush on the sorta superhero. "Did you two actually date once?"

"Yeah. Because dating someone's real easy in juvie," said Tommy very sarcastically.

"Well were you two a couple there?"

"Why do you want to know?" asked Tommy. "I don't see how this is your business."

"Can't I be interested in your history?" asked Billy. "We're brothers, after all."

"So you say," muttered Tommy. Then he sighed. "Well, I'm not sure what brought this bout of nosiness on, but no, Lisa and I were never an item."

"Lisa?"

"Coat's real first name," clarified Tommy. "I know her last name too, but I'm not going to tell you her full secret ID anymore than I'm going to tell you hers."

"Fair enough," said Billy.

"We were friends in juvie. Not boyfriend and girlfriend. Just friends. We watched out for each other the best we could, for as much as that was worth." Tommy's gaze darkened as he remembered his time in juvie.

"Like . . . like watched out for each other if someone else wanted to beat you up?" asked Billy.

"You're mistaking juvie for high school," said Tommy. "Things aren't that cut and dry in juvie. Especially not if they headhunt you for their specialized weapons project. I'd go weeks without seeing Lisa. Sometimes even when I did see her, I wasn't exactly in a position where I could talk with her or anything, but she still did her best to be there for me."

"What do you mean?" asked Billy.

Tommy shot him a disgusted look. "Do I have to spell it out for you? They fucked with my head big time in juvie, Billy. As in they cut my brain open, and I lost days, maybe weeks after the procedures, missing time I have little to no memory of, but probably spent drooling and catatonic. The few flashes that I do have of those days have Lisa in them, and more than once I came back from them and found her sitting beside me in the rec room, or feeding me in the cafeteria . . . or forcing me to fingerpaint in my mindless state for her stupid art experiments, but the point is, she was there for me when no one else was."

Billy felt sick. He suddenly remembered the questions Tommy had asked him after he'd been freed from the Negative Zone, and how Tommy had been checking his scalp. At the time Billy had thought he was being a jerk, pretending he thought Billy had lice or something. But had Tommy really been checking for incision marks?

"You – you never told me they cut open your head before," said Billy. He had to fight the urge to throw up at the very thought.

Tommy glared at him. "Yeah I did."

"No, you didn't!"

"I told you they fucked with my head."

"I didn't think you meant that they cut open your head! God!" Billy covered his mouth with one hand, fighting back his gag reflex. "Tommy . . . I . . . damn . . . I didn't know. I'm sorry, I didn't know."

Tommy shrugged. "It's fine –"

"It's not fine!"

"It means the others probably don't know. I don't want them knowing."

"But . . . they'd want to help you," said Billy.

Tommy gave a nasty laugh. "Help me? At least two of them want to put me back there. So as far as I'm concerned, they can take their help and shove it up their –"

"Help you work through it, I mean," Billy tried to clarify.

"They can't help me," Tommy said flatly. "Because all that telling them about it would do would be to make me relive it. Yeah, that would be a big help."

"Tommy –"

"_Lisa_ was the one who helped me. And she was the only one whose help I needed," said Tommy. "And yeah, she might have just been using me for her art, but that doesn't really matter to me."

"It should," said Billy. He knew that going off about Coat of Arms doing that was getting away from the important issue, but if the mere idea of her had bothered him before learning she made Tommy fingerpaint when he was half brain dead for her stupid art projects, then now . . .

"Don't be a hypocrite, Billy."

"What?"

"Her using me for her art is no worse than you guys using me for my powers, so cut her a break already," said Tommy.

"You know we're not using you anymore, right?" asked Billy.

Tommy looked at him like he was stupid. "Of course you are."

"No, we're not. Even if you wanted to quit right now, we still wouldn't let anyone put you back in juvie," said Billy. "You don't have to use your powers to fight for us anymore if you don't want to."

Tommy raised an eyebrow again. "So if I were to decide right now that I wanted to go join Lisa's team . . ."

Billy's heart dropped into his shoes and he opened his mouth to respond, but didn't know what to say and ended up gaping like a fish.

Tommy started laughing. "The look on your face, little bro . . . I wish I had a camera."

"You're not really going to leave us, are you?" asked Billy.

"You really have to ask that?" Tommy rolled his eyes. "With all head cases on that team? Those guys are worse than I ever was, what with the racist, sexual harassment robot, Black Magic Barbie, the Punisher Wannabe, and that giant bitch. And don't get me started on that prick Melter. That maniac was seriously trying to disintegrate me! Like he could!"

Billy smiled, both at Tommy's brazen dismissal of the Melter's ability to hit him, as well as the confirmation that his brother wouldn't be going anywhere.

"It's too bad though. Lisa's really hot." Tommy glanced out his window and sighed. "I know you can't appreciate it, but take my word for it. She is smoking. And . . . nice."

_Nice?_ Billy's eyebrows rose, but his incredulous look went unnoticed by Tommy. Because Tommy was . . . was he really moping over a girl?

That was when Billy realized.

_He likes her. A lot. Hell, he might even be in _love _with her!_

This did not make Billy happy. Tommy deserved better than some crazed artist super villain who led a team of even crazier murderous super villains.

There was a soft knocking on the open door, and Tommy and Billy both looked over to see Teddy standing there. "Hey guys, pizza's here. Everything okay?"

"Yep! Everything's good. Unless you guys ordered pizza with pineapple on it. Pineapple does not belong on pizza!" declared Tommy. A second later he had disappeared, and a second after that, his angry shouts could be heard from below.

"Everything okay?" asked Teddy again, slinging an arm around Billy's shoulder as his boyfriend walked over to join him.

"Yeah," said Billy. "Just making sure Tommy was alright after, you know, all that."

"With Coat?"

Billy nodded . . . and wondered if he could get away with maybe casting a spell that would make Tommy forget about her. She wasn't good enough for his brother anyway.

* * *

Part 3: Runaways

"Shh, Mol, it's okay. You're safe," said Tommy, so softly and tenderly that Billy barely recognized it as his brother's voice. "No one can hurt you now."

Billy paused outside his brother's door (left open because the Runaways had all been constantly coming and going, then coming back, their need to keep an eye on their youngest now that they had her back acting like its own gravitational force). What he saw when he looked inside Tommy's room was enough to make his heart melt.

Molly was tucked into Tommy's bed, curled up under the covers, but had scooted all the way over to the edge of the bed to be closer to Tommy, who'd pulled up a chair. She was holding one of his hands with both of her own, like it was a lifeline, and had pulled it between the pillow and her head, and seemingly fallen asleep with her cheek pressed against it. Tommy smoothed down her hair with his free hand when she whimpered in her sleep, as though in the grips of a nightmare.

"Hush, _puica_," said Tommy, still in that same soft voice, though he'd slipped into the Romani language. His next sentence was completely unintelligible to Billy, but it was clear that whatever he said was comforting and affectionate.

Klara was on the other side of Tommy's bed, also under the covers and sleeping soundly. And Karolina sat in a chair on the side of the bed opposite where Tommy was sitting, but she had leaned forward and fallen asleep, and was currently drooling on Tommy's blankets.

Billy knew the entire Runaways team was exhausted. He doubted that any of them had slept since Molly went missing. It had been scant hours since they'd shown up at the Young Avengers headquarters to ask for help, explaining how Molly had been arrested for truancy, but hadn't busted out yet, and they hadn't heard from her since. Sometime after they said the word "arrested" but before they finished telling the Young Avengers everything they knew, Tommy had run out, and then returned, cradling Molly in his arms, and had carried her to her team as she sobbed with her face pressed against his chest.

At first the Runaways had only been able to stare in shock. Then when they realized that they had her back, their joy had been great enough to drown out Eli's anger at Tommy having run out to save Molly without bothering to wait for his team to come up with a plan. But Eli's complaints had been largely dismissed because it was clear that whatever had happened to Molly while she was in the system had been really bad. And Billy had a sinking suspicion that Tommy had pulled her out of the same facility that had tried to turn him into a living weapon. They hadn't gone into details. Yet. Billy knew that once things were settled down, Kate would have him go over everything he'd done, but for now Molly and the rest of the Runaways were getting some much needed rest.

Billy knew that he should have either continued on his way or let Tommy know that he was there, but he also knew that the moment Tommy realized he was there, this rare glimpse he was getting of his brother being so sweet and caring would vanish. He had _never_ seen Tommy like this before. It made him wonder what else he didn't know about his own brother. Was this the way Tommy used to always be, before juvie and the experiments, and attempts to turn him into a weapon?

"I was so scared." Molly's hoarse whisper made Billy's eyes widen. He'd been sure she was asleep. Tommy, however, did not seem surprised, which in and of itself was even more surprising. Billy couldn't believe Tommy would act so . . . nice if he knew that there were witnesses who were conscious.

"It's alright to be scared," Tommy told her.

"You wouldn't have been," sniffed Molly.

"_Puica, _I lived at that place for months, before the Young Avengers came and got me out. I was scared all the time," said Tommy.

"You lived there?" asked Molly, eyes wide.

"Yeah," Tommy said. "That's how I knew to look for you there. It was the first place I checked when your team told us you'd been arrested."

"I'm sorry your team didn't find you faster," whispered Molly.

"They weren't my team at the time," Tommy explained. "I didn't join the Young Avengers until after they busted me out."

"Is that why you joined them?" asked Molly.

"One of the reasons, yeah," said Tommy. "And because they needed my help with something right after they got me out. And because my goofy looking brother was on the team."

"But he looks just like you," said Molly.

"Are you saying I'm goofy looking?" asked Tommy, looking mock offended.

And then Molly actually laughed. Weakly, but it was a real laugh. And the smile on Tommy's face when she laughed was brighter than the sun.

"Actually, I think your brother's cute," said Molly.

"Don't tell him that. It'll go straight to his head. And his head's too big as it is," warned Tommy.

"But you're twins. Your heads are the same size."

"Now you're saying I have a big head? That hurts, Mol."

Molly giggled. Then sobered very suddenly. "When . . . you were at that place, did they want to cut open your head too?"

The bright mood vanished, like a candle in a dark room snuffed right out. Billy could actually feel his eyes sting, when Tommy answered in a cracked voice. "Yeah. They wanted to alright."

"But . . . you were there a lot longer. Did they . . . ?"

Tommy nodded.

"I'm sorry."

"It's okay. I survived. And that which doesn't kill you only makes you stronger, right?" said Tommy, trying to smile, but the expression looked broken on his face.

"But you didn't know anyone was going to come for you," said Molly, tears in her voice now. "Did you?"

"I . . ." Tommy winced and hesitated. "No," he said finally. "I didn't."

"I'm sorry, Tommy. I'm so sorry."

"It's okay. I survived. So did you. And now we're both stronger for it," said Tommy.

Molly sat up and flung both arms around Tommy. And Tommy gave a soft, fragile sounding laugh, and moved so that he was sitting on the bed, rather than in the chair, so that Molly wasn't hanging halfway off the bed.

"It's alright, _puica._ Everything's going to be okay."

"You keep calling me that," said Molly. "What does it mean?"

"Huh? Oh . . . um. 'My dear,' is an approximate translation, I guess. Or 'dear girl.' It's Romani. Sorry, I didn't realize I'd switched from English."

"Is Romani that other language you've been speaking?" asked Molly. "I've heard you use it a lot today."

"Yeah, sorry. I'll try harder to stick with English."

"You don't have to." Molly yawned. "I like your voice, no matter what language you're speaking."

"Oh. Um. Thanks."

"Will you sing to me?" asked Molly.

"What?" Tommy sounded startled.

"Please?"

"I don't really sing, Mol."

"Please try? For me? Please, Tommy? Please?"

And Billy watched as Tommy unbelievably broke down. "Alright," he sighed. "I'll try. But no throwing rotten tomatoes at me if you don't like what you hear, deal?"

"Deal."

Molly settled back down in bed, still holding onto Tommy's hand and waited.

"Umm . . . I'm trying to think of a song," said Tommy. "I don't know what to sing."

Billy couldn't help smiling as he watched his brother struggle now that he'd been put on the spot . . . by a twelve year old girl, no less.

"Sing me your favorite song," said Molly.

"Okay. I guess that's doable," said Tommy. Then paused. And that pause stretched on for almost half a minute.

"I'm waiting," said Molly.

"Don't rush me. I'm trying to gather my nerves," said Tommy. "I've never sung for anyone else before. And if you ever tell anyone of this, I will deny, deny, deny."

Molly giggled. Then Tommy started to sing.

And Billy's brother surprised him yet again. Not because he was a good singer though. It was clear he hadn't had much, if any practice. No real training. But he had a good voice. Clear and earnest, and he was making an effort, which was a lot more than Billy had ever thought he would.

And Billy got a feeling just like the one he'd had when he'd seen Tommy dancing with his gypsy "cousins." Not that his valiant attempt at singing was comparable in any way to the awe inspiring talent he had for dancing. It's just that the feeling Billy got was the same. How Tommy was able to let go of his worries when he was with other Romani, and laugh, and dance without any inhibitions, like he hadn't a care in the world, and like he was somewhere that he really felt he belonged. That was what Billy was feeling now, listening to Tommy struggling to sing for Molly, just to make her happy, after having single handedly rescued her from the fate he himself had been subjected to. It wasn't jealousy that Billy was feeling. Well, maybe it was a little, but overall it was more like regret that Tommy wasn't able to act that way around him.

Billy slipped away as Tommy started the second verse of what was apparently his favorite song. It wasn't a song Billy was familiar with, though he made a mental note to look up the lyrics online and find out who sang it and what it was called when he got the chance. He wanted to stay and listen to the whole thing, but he knew that if Tommy got even a glimpse of him standing there, listening, that he'd stop. And that wouldn't have been fair to Molly.

He made his way down to the kitchen, intent on getting a snack, but paused outside when he heard voices that didn't exactly sound very happy. It took all of three seconds to deduce that several of the Runaways were inside, having a not quite argument, and deliberately trying to keep their voices down so they wouldn't be overheard.

"I'm just saying that we should put the offer out there," Chase was saying. "You really think he's happy here?"

"They're his team," said Nico with frayed patience. "Besides, I thought you didn't like him."

"Not at first, I admit. None of us liked any of them at first," said Chase. "But the guy went and saved Molly all by himself and then had to deal with Patriot giving him the Nazi interrogation. That ain't right and you know it."

"He has a point," commented Victor.

"I know he has a point," sighed Nico. "It would be so much easier to disagree if he didn't have a point. But Speed's a Young Avenger. We can't just up and ask him to join our team. It'll look like we're trying to steal him from them. And the Young Avengers are our friends, remember?"

Billy had to fight back the dark anger that was starting to build up inside of him as he realized what the Runaways were talking about. Recruiting Speed. Recruiting Tommy. Billy's brother.

"We could just ask to borrow him for awhile, then forget to give him back?" suggested Chase.

"Even you don't think that will really work," said Victor.

"Hey, it could."

"Why are you being so dogged on this, Chase?" asked Nico.

"Well, I could say it's just so we'd have someone else to babysit Molly and Klara, since he's so good with them, Molly especially, but I think you know that would be BS too," said Chase. "Honestly, I don't really know. I just don't like the way that Patriot guy jumped all over him after he saved Molly, by himself, before we even finished explaining what happened. And considering how she was when he brought her back, how she clung to him and wouldn't let go, you know whatever they were doing to her was horrible. You'd think people would be happy when their teammate saved a kid, right? Isn't that what heroes are supposed to do?"

"There's probably more to the situation than we know," said Nico. "I think they all know that what he did was a good thing. The right thing. And they probably weren't as mad as they were worried about him."

"You really believe that? Because I don't."

"Okay, maybe not the more worried than mad at him thing, at least in Eli's case," said Nico, "But remember, they're not us. They have their own way of doing things, and it clearly works for them. I really don't think Speed would stick around here if he wasn't happy, do you? Not when he can be halfway across the world without a second thought. Besides, his brother's here. They're family. Trying to split them up would be just as wrong as all the people who've tried to split us up."

"Yeah, I guess you're right," muttered Chase. "I'm just saying though. If he's a member of their family, they should act like it."

That blunt truth cut through Billy's anger and jealousy and literally took his breath away.

"No more talking about this while we're here," said Nico. "The last thing we want is the Young Avengers getting ticked at us, especially after they helped us get Molly back."

"After _Speed_ helped us get Molly back," clarified Chase.

"I mean it," said Nico.

"Okay. Fine. _I'll _drop it. But you know who's going to be bringing it up again as soon as she wakes up tomorrow, don't you?" said Chase slyly.

Billy slunk off again before the Runaways could leave the kitchen and headed back up toward Tommy's room. When he reached the doorway, Tommy was no longer singing. In fact, it looked like Molly really had gone to sleep this time.

This time Tommy seemed to sense Billy, or maybe because he wasn't completely focused on Molly, he saw Billy move in his peripheral vision. Whatever the reason, he looked up at his brother.

"Hey," Billy said softly, stepping inside.

"Hey," said Tommy. "If you're here to yell at me can it wait until tomorrow? Molly finally drifted off."

"I didn't come to yell at you," Billy said. "You did a good thing today. You made me proud to be your brother."

Tommy blinked. Then quickly covered his surprised look with a smirk. "As you should be. I mean, look at this. I've got three beautiful ladies in my bed. Well, two and a half, I guess, since Karolina's only halfway on my bed. I'm a playa. Joking," he hastily added. "I'm not a pedophile."

Billy shook his head. "You're something else."

"Yep. Something other than a pedophile. And for the record, even though Molly is wearing one of my shirts, I was not in the room when she changed. Karolina will bear witness to this."

"Don't forget to get some sleep yourself," said Billy. "You've earned it."

Tommy shook his head. "Molly's likely to have nightmares tonight. I'm staying here to wake her up if they get too bad."

"I'm sorry," said Billy.

"Huh?"

"I should have been there for you. To wake you up when you had nightmares."

"You were."

"No, I wasn't. I didn't even think –"

"You got me out of the biggest nightmare of all. That counts for something. Besides, what do you really think I would have done if you wanted to sit beside my bed while I slept?" asked Tommy.

"Er, good point. But I just . . . I've been thinking lately, and I realized, we don't, I mean I don't, well we, but especially me in particular –"

"Spit it out already."

"I'm glad you're with us," Billy told him. "I'm glad we found you, and that you stayed with us."

"Naturally. Because I am pretty badass," Tommy said. It was as close as he could get to saying "Thank you," to a comment like that, Billy realized, and he'd take it.

"And you know if any other team or group ever lured you away from us, I'd rain curses down upon them until they gave you back," added Billy, only half joking.

"Aw Billy. I didn't know you cared," said Tommy. Then he laughed. One of his real laughs. It was the first time Billy had heard one of them and known it was directed at him, and somehow it sounded so much better because of that.

And that cinched it. Now Billy was completely serious, about what he'd sort of joked about earlier. If anyone ever tried to take his brother away, they would face his wrath.

* * *

AN: For the record, Billy wasn't really serious about erasing Tommy's memories of Coat of Arms. It's like when you say about someone who annoys you, "I could kill her and I know a place where no one would ever find the body!" how you don't really mean it, but are just venting. That's what I was going for, but I guess I didn't portray that too well. Sorry!


	7. Faster Than A Speeding Bullet

Summary: Remember that time in The Ultimates when Quicksilver was trying to stop the Scarlet Witch from being shot by a bullet locked onto her DNA? Now it's Speed's turn to try and save Wiccan from a similar fate.

Faster Than A Speeding Bullet

The glint of a sniper scope was the only warning Tommy got, and even that was only dumb luck. He, Billy, and the rest of the Young Avengers were all just hanging out, in civilian get up. Just hanging out. Not stopping crime, or saving the world, or any of that. Just trying to be normal kids for a change, grabbing a few slices of pizza, on their way to catch a movie, after classes let for those of them who went to school on a Friday afternoon.

Tommy instinctively called on his powers, changing his relative time so that everyone and everything else slowed to a crawl. There was no crack of fire as the gunshot went off, which meant the gunman was using a silencer, but that didn't necessarily mean the guy was any good. But Tommy didn't see any reason to leave it to chance, no matter who the bastard was aiming at. He kept hold of his powers and turned toward the shooter, waiting, and waiting, and waiting, as patiently as a speedster could, until _finally_ the bullet creeped into view.

He didn't move to intercept it immediately. Tommy wanted to see who the target was. So he watched a little longer with narrowed eyes, that narrowed even more as he realized by the bullet's trajectory that the target was a member of his team.

"Bastard," he muttered as the offending piece of metal continued on course. Then he jogged so he could walk underneath it, and beat it to its target.

It soon became apparent just which of his teammates was the target, and the realization made Tommy's blood start to boil. It was Billy. The bastard sniper was aiming at his _brother_.

"Oh no you didn't," Tommy growled, hurrying forward and pulling Billy out of the bullet's path, then moving a few of his other teammates as well, just to make sure no one got grazed.

Then he started to let go of his powers, slowing himself down so that time seemed to speed up, since by his calculations, not even a full second had passed since the gun was fired yet. As much as Tommy wanted to go after that sniper, making sure that the bullet didn't hit any bystanders had to take priority. He'd never hear the end of it from Eli if some unlucky sap ended up getting hurt while he ran off to crack open the sniper's skull.

It was a good thing he stayed too, because as Tommy's relative time started getting closer to how time seemed to move for everyone else, he realized something crucial. The bullet had altered its course.

"What the hell?" said Tommy as he dashed forward, struggling to beat the bullet not, and shoved Billy out of its way.

Billy's expression as he hit the ground was the same one that had been on his face before the whole incident had started. Time was moving normally for his poor deprived brother, who didn't have superspeed, and had no idea how close he was to getting ventilated.

"That should take care of it," Tommy said to himself, but then, right before his eyes, the bullet's course started shifting again, angling right toward Billy who was helplessly sprawled on the ground. "No!"

Tommy reached out and tried to catch the bullet. He'd realize later how stupid a move that had been, but he was acting on instinct, and all his instincts were screaming at him to do something, and not let Billy get hurt! He felt his flesh being split open, felt the bullet tearing through the tendons and bones and leaving a freaking hole in his goddamn hand as it continued on its deadly course, right toward his brother.

_"NO!"_ Tommy reached out with his uninjured hand, but not to catch the bullet this time. His hand moved quicksilver fast, sending hyperkinetic waves toward the bullet, destabilizing it and blowing it up scant inches from Billy.

And just like that, time seemed to return to normal, because Tommy didn't have enough control over his hyperkinetic explosive powers to keep his speed up at the same time.

"What? Whoa!" Billy shielded his face from the miniature explosion. "What the –? Tommy? Tommy, what did you do!"

Tommy glowered at him, not appreciating his tone one bit.

Objectively, yeah, he knew it looked like he was the one to blame. To the others it all seemed like one second everything was fine, then the next Tommy had shoved Billy to the ground and blown something up in his face.

But Tommy wasn't in the mood to be objective or understanding because he'd just saved Billy's life and now, rather than giving him the benefit of the doubt, Billy was yelling at him, and Tommy's hand was hurting, and oh look, now Teddy was grabbing onto Tommy, manhandling him and shoving him away from Billy.

"I saved you from getting shot you ungrateful little moron," snapped Tommy.

"I – You what?" Billy blinked.

"If that's what you were doing, why didn't you just move him out of the way like a normal speedster would have?" asked Eli.

Tommy half wanted to demand that Eli define just what a normal speedster was, because half the things he'd heard about other speedsters led him to believe that acting irrationally at least thirty percent of the time came with the speed. The other half of him wanted to smash Eli's ugly bald head against the closest wall.

Instead, he said angrily to them, "I tried! Twice! The bullet, it kept changing directions, like it was locked onto Billy or something."

"Tommy, your hand!" said Cassie, spotting his war wound. "You're hurt!"

"I'm fine," said Tommy.

"You – you have a hole in your hand," said Kate, looking horrified as she reached for him.

"I said I'm fine!" snapped Tommy. Then he glanced up at the rooftop where he'd seen the glint of the scope. "But that gunman won't be when I get my hands on him."

Then he was off, racing across the distance, up twenty flights of stairs, searching for the rooftop exit, and score! He reached the rooftop door right as the gunman was barreling through it, not having even taken the time to break down his rifle, after realizing he'd missed his mark and would soon have the Young Avengers on his tail. If he'd known he had a speedster on his trail, maybe he wouldn't have even bothered getting up. Tommy was still fairly new, so not everyone knew that the Young Avengers team had a speedster now. And even fewer knew the extent of Tommy's powers, and all that he could do.

He raised his hand, ready to vaporize the bastard who'd taken a shot at his maybe brother, then paused, remembering the condition he'd agreed to when the other Young Avengers freed him. No killing.

Tommy gritted his teeth and kept his hand raised. He could get rid of all the evidence no problem. No one would ever know. He could tell the others . . . he could tell the others that he didn't catch the guy . . . that the guy had made it off the roof, left his gun behind, and it was impossible to pick out who the gunman was after he'd left his gun behind. Or . . . or something. Anything. He had plenty of time to come up with a cover story.

He could have done it. He wanted to. Tommy wanted to kill the bastard so badly that it hurt. But as he held his hand up to disintegrate the sniper, he realized that he couldn't. Physically, yeah he could have, but something was mentally blocking him. Something like his conscience, except he was pretty sure he didn't have one of those anymore. Or maybe that something was the realization that the look on Billy's face when he'd thought Tommy had shoved him to the ground and caused an explosion in his face for no reason would be nothing compared to the look he'd be wearing if he found out that Tommy had gone and killed someone behind his back. Even if said someone had been trying to kill Billy.

"Damn me," Tommy muttered and dropped his hand. "Think, Sheperd, think. I can't let him just get away with this, scot free. So what to do . . ."

His gaze fell to the floor. Then to the would be assassin's shoes. The gunman wasn't dressed like one of the hitmen from movies or videogames, in a suit, or black body armor. He was dressed to blend in a crowd, in a T shirt, worn jeans, and athletic shoes. Athletic shoes that had kangaroos on them. The brand logo, or something, Tommy knew, but it sparked an idea in his mind.

"So you like kangaroos, huh mister?" he asked, even though the man was pretty much a statue at the speed Tommy was moving at, thinking at, and making decisions at.

He tore the gun out of the bastard's hands and tossed it aside. Then he flung the would be assassin over his shoulder in a fireman's carry and began sprinting, back down the stairs, out of the city, across the country, then across the Pacific Ocean, setting a course southwest. In no time at all, he was in Australia, in the middle of what the people there called the bush. Tommy himself called it the middle of nowhere. The only things around for miles and miles were trees, tall grass and kangaroos. The perfect place to ditch trash.

Tommy threw the gunman to the ground and pulled off the bastard's shoes, then left him there and sprinted back to New York. He arrived back at the top of that building in time to catch the gun before it hit the floor, and dismantled it and shoved it into its duffle bag before dashing back down to where the other Young Avengers hadn't even helped Billy off the ground yet, the slowpokes.

"You guys are still here?" demanded Tommy. "Oh, and I got the sniper's gun and shoes, and took him down under."

"Tommy . . . you didn't . . ."

"I said I took him _down under,"_ repeated Tommy. "I think he'll like walking eighty miles through the Australian bush barefoot."

Teddy choked on a laugh as he scooped Billy up off the ground. Finally. But even if he was slow, at least he seemed to have a good sense of humor, unlike some people on the team.

"You did what with him?" demanded Eli.

"It was leave him stranded or vaporize him," said Tommy. "And you guys did tell me not to kill anyone. If you're rescinding the order . . ."

"What you should have done was turned him over to the police!" said Eli.

"Why? So they could lock him up, feed him three times a day, and let him watch cable TV on the taxpayers' dime?"

"So that he could be brought to justice!"

"Since when does justice include cable TV?"

"What are you doing bringing up TV?" demanded Eli. "What does that have to do with anything?"

"That's what your idea of justice entails," said Tommy. "We take him to the police and it's fifty-fifty whether or not his case even gets to trial. Say it does and he's tried for attempted murder. He'll get ten years, which'll get cut down to five for good behavior. Five years of eating better than most of the world's population, and getting to watch cable TV every night, for trying to kill Billy. Then he'll be right back out, and no wiser or warier of us for it. Call me crazy, but I'm not alright with that."

"It's not up to you to decide!"

"Oh, but it is. I mean, isn't that the point of being a vigilante?" asked Tommy. "Deciding to do something when the system's not working?"

"No one said the system's not working!" shouted Eli.

"Then where was the system when that bastard tried to shoot Billy?" demanded Tommy. "Huh?"

"That's not the point!"

"You can take your point and screw it!"

"This is why you don't belong –"

"Hey, maybe everyone else here is okay with the fact that Tommy's got a gunshot wound that goes straight through his hand that we're all ignoring, but I'm really not," spoke up Teddy. "And somehow I don't think his brother is either. So if we could maybe get our act together and act like the heroes we're trying to be . . . ?"

Billy nodded grimly and stepped forward. "Please give me your hand, Tommy."

Tommy regarded him warily.

"I'm going to heal you," said Billy. "That's all. I swear."

Reluctantly, Tommy held his injured hand out to Billy.

_"IWantHimToHeal. IWantHimToHeal. IWantHimToHeal."_

The pain in Tommy's hand drained away almost immediately, and Tommy watched, bemused, as the hole in his hand mended right before his eyes.

"Thanks," said Tommy, pulling his hand back as soon as Billy was finished.

"You saved my life," said Billy. "It was the least I could do."

Tommy clenched his teeth and looked away. "I didn't mean to throw you on the ground and blow the bullet up in your face. For the record. I tried moving you out of the way normally first, but the damn bullet kept changing directions."

"I'm sorry. I shouldn't have yelled at you. It just took me by surprise," said Billy.

Tommy shrugged. He wasn't good at dealing with people trying to be nice to him. He'd almost prefer Billy being all pissy again. Almost. Not quite though. "Yeah, well . . . We're going to be late to that movie. Not that I wanted to see it anyway because it looks like crap. Come to think about it, I didn't want to hang out with you guys tonight, with or without the crappy movie. I think I'm just going to take off –"

He stopped talking as Billy grabbed onto his hand again before he could make a break for it.

"Please stay."

And Tommy swore Billy must have put some of his reality altering magic into that request because the next thing he knew, he was agreeing to stay, then they were all on their way to the stupid movie that turned out to be just as cheesy as Tommy predicted it would be.

Of course that didn't explain why Tommy spent the next few weeks stalking Billy and keeping an eye out for snipers or other assassins, but whatever.


End file.
